dualislogs | they show you how to swim

they show you how to swim

WHO: All Dualizens, old and new
WHAT: Your regularly scheduled NAPs event for the month
WHERE: Dualis Oasis
WHEN: Nov. 7-10
WARNINGS: Please use these if applicable!

Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces - maybe even a few folks without faces - but hey, this city welcomes all types. Chances are, if you’ve just arrived, you're seeing some pretty crazy things, unless you're used to an eye-blinding amount of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis,
and welcome to your monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right? Who doesn’t like friends?!

The weather outside may be taking a turn toward chilly, but you can still get your swim on during this month’s NAPs, held at the Dualis Oasis, an indoor temperature-controlled aquatic amusement park with giant slides, swimming pools, and lazy winding float rivers. Appropriate swimming gear is required for entry to this part of the park, but there are a number of shops just outside that will gladly sell you swimwear and accessories.

For those of you who wish to avoid a humid environment or just hate fun, a dehumidified lounge and restaurant offer quieter, dryer spaces for chatting and snacking. The actual speed-friending itself is in progress here, but you’re welcome to stick around and continue conversations with your new friends.

So c’mon, what are you waiting for? Just dive right in for fun and friendship - the water’s fine, fine, fine, just like everything else in this fair city. But hey, remember to play safe. No running!

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Hank possibly wouldn't have come if Connor hadn't mentioned it multiple times and told him to just wear a shirt and that he didn't have to come in the pool; it's not that he expects Hank to come to these things and throw himself into everything like Connor does (he even bought totally stylish trunks from the place). It's only when he's tried out pretty much everything the new park has to offer, from the pools and river to the slides and floats, that he comes back to find Hank again, still soaking wet.

"How's the book?" he asks by way of greeting, toweling his hair.

Okay, so, when Connor made him show his grizzled face, he'd protested. But now that he has his partner wandering up in ridiculous trunks, his hair and body wet, that perfect combination of "model looks" and "fuckin' nerd"? He absolutely doesn't regret showing up.

It actually takes Hank a moment before he replies.

"Oh, uh... right. It's the same book I read before. Different translator, though. Dumas was a French writer. Sorta makes me wonder how the translators work with us. If I grabbed the original and started reading it and it'd be different."

His eyes don't stay on Connor's face despite his better efforts. Both because he's gorgeous, and look at those stupid fucking adorable trunks.

Connor's got no regrets at all. Hank looks happy, Connor himself is having a pretty good time and...Hank's gaze is flicking up to his face every now and then, but the rest of the time it's pretty much everywhere else. And he's pretty pleased with that as well. As he slings his towel round his shoulders, his hair's already drying curly.

"It's interesting how the translation here works. It's flawless, but I can't figure out how they're doing it. I can't detect any new software or hardware." He's got a couple of possibilities in mind, but all in all, it's not the most important thing, except-- "But I wonder if anything ever gets...lost in translation."

In other words, if there are meanings in the things people say or write that simply aren't being carried over.

If they want to discuss something like this, though, Connor would rather they were doing it through interfacing. It's the only way to be totally safe. He hasn't discussed anything about where they are with anyone else yet, so that's a bridge he'll have to cross when he gets to it.

"So." He turns to look out over the pools, which has the other benefit of turning his back to Hank, who'll probably appreciate the view. "You're glad you came along in the end?"

"At this point it wouldn't surprise me."

He raises the book. "Maybe I should try it. I wonder where this even came from. It had to come in with someone. I don't think Dumas was a thing on this planet. City. Planet? Um..."

Yeah, his brain is spilling out a little as Connor turns around. What was he talking about? Translating? Or the Count of Monte Cristo.

"I heard you laughing. Sounds like you had a great time." So, yeah, he guesses he's glad he came and got to hear that.

"Galaxy?" he adds, only half-joking. That they seem to be in a whole different universe is one thing, but within that universe, who knows what location they're actually in right now. Maybe another Earth exists in this very universe. Maybe this is Earth? All things he might never find out and aren't much more than idle thoughts. He can actually have those now - not everything he thinks has to be of utmost importance to his life and mission.

"I--" He laughs again briefly at the thought of it. "I got thrown in the pool. And then I dragged her in with me."

It was such a bizarre moment, but somehow a really great one at the same time. Maybe just...feeling included in a community in such a little way.

"You sure you don't want to get in?" Obviously Hank's not going to get in, but he's going to make one last try all the same - it's a gesture more than a serious suggestion. That Hank's wanted.

He laughs at the idea, a good warm chuckle. Even if his own proclivities keep him from going in, he is glad that Connor is enjoying being a casual part of everything. Maybe it's a little harder to now, at least for him, but Connor's not really had a chance to just sit and breathe. He's always been defending himself or on edge in some fashion.

And here he is, finally not acting like he has to get it perfect. Still managing to pull it off anyway, what with the damp hair and the goofy grin.

"Nah, I'm too fuckin' old to jump in a pool with a bunch of teenagers. Even if I didn't have the spare tire, you know?" He pats his belly. "I'm fine in here. You know. As long as you keep comin' back to check on me."

'Cause he is enjoying the show.

Connor rolls his eyes at the 'too old' comment, but doesn't check him on it. Connor's not a teenager - not in age, where he's got a fraction the life experience of anybody in the whole park - and not in mentality, where he's the equivalent of an adult, as mature as he's ever going to get.

"If you don't want to get in the pool," he says, grin starting across his face as the idea hits him, "I can just bring it to you."

And with that, he unceremoniously dumps himself, soaking wet, in Hank's lap.

"Oh my god!"

He raises his arms to get the book out of the way as Connor camps his wet trunks in his lap and settles his slight frame against him. Well, he can immediately feel that water soaking through.

"I see why you brought me now, you needed an extra fucking talking towel."

He puts one arm around and sort of flails the book off to the side loosely. "You fuckin' little asshole." But here he is cuddling him.

Hank flails a little and blusters, but he doesn't push Connor off him, leaving Connor to settle his damp body and wet shorts into him without too much objection. Which Connor does, grinning. He slings an arm around Hank's shoulders and leans back against him - their whole bodies pressed together, from Connor's feet brushing Hank's shins to his head on Hank's shoulder.

"Humans are more comfortable than towels, I don't know if you noticed."

That's just science.

"That's the second time someone called me an asshole today," he says then, and maybe he even sounds a little proud of himself. Just a little.

"I'm more comfortable than most humans." He alternates between hating how he looks, and being completely jolly with it. He pats his own stomach, finally looking a little jovial.

"Really? Is it the pool fight earlier or am I missing a lot of shit I'll regret?"

"Exactly." He settles himself in Hank's lap properly, curling into him so he can look Hank in the face, side on. "Glad you agree."

He doesn't need the physical warmth or the comfortable seating, and they both know it. He just likes the contact with Hank - and he thinks it's important to let Hank know he's wanted and that Connor craves this contact even if he doesn't strictly need it.

"The fight earlier." But he's quick to add on, "You're missing out on...being thrown into the pool, people kicking balls around and...an artificial river? It looks interesting, I didn't go over there yet."

"It's okay. I've done all those things before.... Wait, are you talking about a waterslide?"

Because if Connor's going to go on a waterslide, he's kind of curious about how that'll turn out. He won't get in the pool, but, you know. He might have to go over to look.

Edited 2019-11-20 20:07 (UTC)

"I know what a water slide is," he protests, and though Hank has every reason to think Connor wouldn't know what a water slide is, he pushes very gently at Hank's shoulder as if in rebuke. "They've got those, too."

He hasn't tried any of those - mostly he's just hung around the pool. Maybe he'll come back sometime. Some of the places they choose for the NAPs are good enough for one visit - the axe throwing place, for one - and then Connor can tick that experience off a figurative list and never do it again. But others he goes to pretty regularly - the cat cafe, for one. Who knows, this might end up being a regular haunt.

"I mean literally a river, they made an artificial one around the edge of the building - people are floating down them on inflatables."

"I never know what the hell they programmed you with." Not to mention he talks to people from different worlds, he's in a state of having to explain everything now.

Even if now he understands why these events are held, it is sort of nice to know what's where. This isn't the place for him, but it's good to know it's here.

"If you go give it a try are you gonna come back and lay on me again?" He teases helplessly. Because he'd bitch again, and he'd hug him again. He's easy that way.

"You're right, you should assume I don't know about anything like this," he says, kissing Hank's temple, but then adding on, "And that I want to."

He doesn't want Hank to assume he just knows everything. It might mean that he misses out on the things that Hank knows and Connor just doesn't. And he misses out on little moments like this.

"Do you want me to?" he asks, smiling his genuine, lopsided little grin.

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they show you how to swim

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