kitty at my foot and i wanna touch it.

[headandhand]

WHO: Open to all residents
WHAT: Your regularly scheduled NAPs event for the month
WHERE: The RoCocoa Cat Cafe
WHEN: Aug. 10-14
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, 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?!

This month’s event is held at the brand new RoCocoa Cat Cafe, a sparkly new establishment that caters to children and the young at heart with iced and hot cocoa drinks of all kinds, delicious pastries, age-appropriate live music, and of course many friendly kitties who love to lounge in laps. The cats are of all shapes, sizes, and colors, including some who may look a little different from what you expect, or may look like an ordinary cat but are actually anything but ordinary underneath that adorable fur coat. All cats in the cafe are adoptable, too, if you meet a new furry friend and just can’t bear to go home without them!

So pull up a chair, get to know your new neighbors, and enjoy a sugary treat or two with the resident furbabies. You might just meet your new two- or four-legged best friend!

Comments

[skyward_eyes]

Well, Nida did learn all about giving good hugs from a woman who had given them to him. Only fair he returns the favor.

"I might take you up on that," Nida admits, still holding her tight. Tight is better. It's safe. She deserves safe. And after a bit he lets go and moves away. "I think you boyfriend should have first dibs on that service, though."

[etherealsage]

She is, in fact, crowned best hugger, thank you.

Begrudgingly, she releases him when he seeks some kind of freedom. Rinoa grins as she pieces herself back together. "Oh, he can have hugs anytime, too. Squall's not super huggy, though. I'm determined to change that!"

Or she's going to make Squall so tired of hugs that he's going to try to find places to hide.

[skyward_eyes]

"I wish you all the luck," Nida says, and he genuinely means it. Squall deserves that happiness and warmth. "Give him hugs all the time."

[etherealsage]

"W-well," Rinoa begins with something of a shy little grin. "I can't hug him all the time. We have jobs and stuff, after all. But I'll hug him a lot. Whenever he's cool with it anyway."

Come to think of it, he's been surprisingly forward with her since she's arrived. Something must have really got to him while they were apart... She'd ask, but she imagines Squall's as much a mystery to Nida as he is to her still.

Besides, they don't seem to be on particularly positive terms. At least, not as positive as she'd like them to be.

[skyward_eyes]

Oh, Nida knows him well enough. But the Squall he knows best is an older Squall, and that changes things, especially how to handle him. Young Squall is more of a mystery. Stupid Guardian Forces.

"Probably more often than he's cool with, Rin. He needs them."

Positive terms are... relative terms. Nida's as positive with Squall as he can be at the moment.

[etherealsage]

"I can't just force him to hug me."

Well. She can, but that's probably not a good thing. Or they'd look like some kind of weird amalgamation. Rin is pretty certain she's had enough amalgamations to last her a lifetime. "Either way, I hear you. I'll try to get him to lighten up a bit while we're all here. If anyone can do it, it's me, right?"

The power of girlfriends, right? Right?

[skyward_eyes]

"If anyone can, it's you," he confirms. The line keeps moving and he offers Rinoa a brief smile.

"I should get to my coffee before the speed-dating-on-friendship thing starts. We'll talk again soon, okay?"

[etherealsage]

She looks sceptical, but amused and eventually she decides to just give in. Nida's a similar brand of stubborn, after all, and he's probably not entirely wrong. Rinoa hugs have a high success rate.

He continues and she nods, "Oh, yeah! Go do that! I'll be around if you need me for anything. Thanks for spending some time with me!" Because the truth is, regardless of how well she appears to be acclimating, it's all appearance. Rinoa feels awkward and out of place, unsure if she belongs, and not wholly certain of herself. She suspects it will take some time before she ever grows remotely comfortable.

And a part of her almost thinks that maybe she shouldn't. She wouldn't be surprised if she has a heart-to-heart with Nida eventually over that exact thing.

Thanks for the thread <3

[skyward_eyes]

Well, she'll know where to find him. Because Nida will always be there for his sister. He offers a brief wave and takes the last step to the counter to get his order in.