i wanna hold ‘em like they do in texas, please

[headandhand]

WHO: Open to all Dualizens
WHAT: Your regularly scheduled NAPs event for the month
WHERE: The brand-new Theronia Casino
WHEN: Dec. 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 just fine! But for the rest of you, the Head knows this is gonna 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 (possibly invasive) personal questions and receive results - or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship, whatever works! 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 is … not frightful, but this month’s event is still being held in a cozy indoor environment. Welcome to the newly-opened Theronia Casino, a 12-story building that boasts amazing buffets and dozens of different types of gambling on each floor. Enjoy a rousing game of blackjack, poker, or tall card with your friends! Try your luck at roulette, get a group together for dice games, or maybe meet some new faces over a round of mahjong. If there’s another type of gambling game local to your home world, chances are good it’ll have a table on one of the casino floors. Types of cuisine vary from floor to floor, but kosher, vegan, and allergen-free offerings are always available no matter where you choose to dine.

As a special bonus, all NAPs attendees receive free entry into the weekly Go Fish Tournament. Daily finalists win a prize of 1000 duos and advance to the championship game next month. Play your heart out, and remember - anything’s competitive if you try hard enough!

Comments

[sociallychallenged]

"Nah. They do have live bands, though. Different types of music. There are a couple of karaoke bars in the area, too."

Any place with live music though is great. It's unregulated, uncensored, real and raw. The censorship's gonna be the fuckin' death of him. Literally, maybe, the death of everyone. It's not just the metal or the rock. You get into jazz and cut songs like 'Strange Fruit'? You deserve to be taken out.

[hobocop]

"Live bands are a good start." He's eyeing the note with more interest now. The little squint he gives acts as a display of concentration - he's trying to figure out where the hell he should stick it so he won't actually lose it. "Besides, live music means sound system and a mic. Sound system and a mic means they do karaoke." Wink. "They just don't know it, yet."

And he's onto patting his pockets down now. Eventually he lands on a little zipper on the thigh of his FALN joggers - hand hesitating on the rubbery material for all of a second or two. Then a quick unzip and out comes the old RCM badge. It's a blue plastic, simple and altogether unremarkable, save for the photo on it. Despite the lack of wear, (the badge looks recently issued, if anything) the photo's old. Gone are the giant sideburns and — well, gone is the photo. He just stuck the post-it over it, and is busy smoothing it down so it won't peel straight off again.

"You sound like maybe you got some pipes on you," he says, looking up once more. "Base-y." Another drag of Pilsner. "You ever sing?"

[sociallychallenged]

"Not where anyone could hear. Contrary to what my shirts say, I'm actually pretty uh..."

Shy, shy is the word. Hank Anderson would stand in a corner hiding his fucking face before someone would catch him singing. That doesn't mean he doesn't. Or at least hum on occasional sweet and rumbling. But god? Getting up in front of people?

"Don't have the balls for that one."

He notes that of all the places the guy could cover, he covers his own face. He knows where that kind of sentiment usually comes from, but it doesn't seem like he knows the guy well enough to remark on it. Sad, though.

"Some of our best parties happened at karaoke bars though." Back when he'd socialize with his other officers. "If I did sing? I was too drunk to remember it."

[hobocop]

The badge (and post-it) disappear back into that one pocket, secured with the purr of the zipper and a quick pat-pat on Harry's thigh. He's smiling against the rim of his bottle, too. It's impossible not to, now that he's confronted with the image of Hank avoiding the microphone like his life depends on it. A big, bashful bear of a man - who knew?

"You're lucky I can't pull rank on you," he says, before tilting his head back and firing another wave of beer straight to the back of his throat. It's like he's in a hurry to finish the whole bottle now. "I'd get you up there, easy."

"Khm. I get it though. Last time I was up, I was stone cold sober." The rise of his brows reads a solid fuck that. "Some deep, reptilian part of my brain stepped in, but when it was over?" He lifts one of his hands up, holding out out horizontally as he mimics a furious shake. "The price of baring your soul in public, baby."

Another generous swig. He's nearing the end, finally.

"You smoke, too, or are we about to part ways?"