sheets all on the floor just like an ocean ...

[headandhand]

WHO: All y’all!
WHAT: Your regularly scheduled NAPs event for the month
WHERE: Fort Pillowtown
WHEN: Oct. 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?!

This month’s event is held at a new, super-comfy all-ages establishment called Fort Pillowtown. As the name suggests, it’s a large indoor space filled wall to wall with permanent pillowforts. There are a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, with each individual fort constructed of gauzy hanging sheets, strings of soft lights, warm blankets, plush toys, a mini television with on-screen menu for choosing movies to watch and video games to play, and yes, lots and lots of pillows. Snacks and drinks of all sorts are available for purchase, as are whimsical onesies and comfy slippers to wear. Board and card game sets are also available to borrow or buy. Sounds like a dream, right?

So pull up a pillow pile, get to know your new neighbors, and enjoy a well-earned and comfy chill-out session. And hey, if you end up napping at NAPs, rest assured that it’s absolutely allowed.

Comments

[merged]

[ A mild disappointment settles into her stomach as she enters into the fort, her lips quirking down at Cloud's appearance. She'd been hoping for something empty. She knows that's the opposite reason for this damn thing's existence but she's always been a loner, and she hates meeting new people, and yet somehow she comes to every single one.

At his greeting, she dips her head, uncertain what to say other than a quiet and lame: ] Uh, hi.

[ She doesn't want to bother him. He doesn't look like she wants to bother him. She crosses the room, as far from him as she can, and settles up against the cushioned wall. After a few hesitant glances his way (that hair seems impossible), she finally pulls a book and pencils from a bag she'd brought in, flipping to a blank page. When she begins to sketch, she looks up at him often—more often than someone politely ought to.

Sorry, Cloud. You're now one of the many sketches in her notebook. ]

[bravers]

[All good things came to an end. It's not Heather in particular that causes a slight roll of the eyes as she enters, just like her presence in particular isn't what makes him shuffle backward. It's just someone. In general. That's enough.

...But it's expected. It's a NAP. So in return, an equally quiet and equally lame:]

Hi.

[She's not loud. That's something. But just someone's presence means he's not able to relax. So. He stays awake- offering quiet, insignificant questions roughly every ten minutes. And he doesn't linger on the answers. He doesn't offer anything else. It's apparent it's just a tactic to not get shocked.

Then, perhaps halfway into the sketch...]

I'm getting something to drink. You want anything?

[merged]

[ She almost doesn't hear him, engrossed in every little stroke of pencil. When she realizes, her head snaps, a streak of dark lead pushing a thin line into the paper. She keeps the shit inaudible—it wasn't her fault she as so absorbed. ]

Uh. [ Like Cloud, Heather prefers to be alone. It's quieter, it's safer, it means she doesn't have to shove her foot in her mouth or ruin a mood. Finally, she gives a nod. ]

Want me to send you some Duos in exchange? [ If only she knew she bothered him, she'd leave; they;ll need their peace. ]

no worries, it's not a tag from me without at least two

[bravers]

[Yeah, he knows that feeling all right. Especially recently. Feet meeting mouths was pretty regular.]

It's okay. It's just a drink. What d'you want?

[Being honest, normally? Way more frugal. Even if it was just a drink, he'd. Kind of been told he was a gil-pincher. But. now? Honestly? Exchanging information is just a hassle.]

/hi5 we fail sometimes

[merged]

[ She doesn't like to take something for nothing, not really, but he's right: it's just a drink. She smiles shyly, appreciatively. ]

A cocoa, then. With marshmallows. [ She tacks that last bit on with a dip of her head. Marshmallows are for more than just children but she still feels like a dumb kid getting it.

but, haha, she's not ordering it! ]

♥

[bravers]

Uh-huh.

[Good choice! He doesn't voice it, and frankly, his expression says nothing- but Heather's probably decided his drink too. He shuffles- admittedly quite awkwardly- past her due to the limited space inside the fort- and of course he gets an eyeful of her drawing as he does.

The lines are heavy. He looks kind of tense- harsher than he imagined himself to look. But that's the way he comes across, isn't it? The drawing's pretty good, too- despite the small surprise of him actually being the subject. Very stealthy work, Heather.

He says nothing, though. And he leaves. Eventually, he returns- both mugs piled high with Dualis' version of marshmallows- sweeter, and almost certainly even more unhealthy than even their respective world's versions. His own is even lined with some kind of syrup, keeping them all together.

...Sweet tooth? yes. As he passes her mug to her and reenters...]

What's your name?

[She's drawing him, after all. He might as well know.]

[merged]

[ Heather isn't sure what she expected upon his return, a paper cup full of watered down but drinkable lukewarm cocoa, maybe, but not what she receives. Her eyes light up as she takes the steaming mug with a murmur of gratitude, the grin on her lips unbidden. ]

...I'm Heather. Heather Mason. [ She tells him before she takes a sip. It's a little hot on her tongue but the way it settles into her stomach can only be described as pleasant. ] Who're you?

[ Her name may be familiar given that Tifa is her roommate. ]

[bravers]

[Not really.

Since Tifa's arrival, the majority of cloud and her conversations have been pretty much about weird subjects. This place, what'd happened on their world, what was to happen on their world, and as more from Gaia had arrived, more strange things had been raised, discussed. They hadn't had the time to focus on nicer, more normal things like roommates. Every time they've discussed something awful out, someone else from Gaia seems to arrive and the conversation begins again. With a newer, more horrible edge to it.]

Cloud.

[His answer's brisk, and it's accompanied by picking at the pile of marshmallows on top of the cocoa. Unlike Heather, the cocoa isn't the goal for him. It's whatever he can pile on top of it. Mid-marshmallow chew, he moves his gaze to her and-

Marshmallow moustache.

He moves his eyes away. Should he say something?]

Uh.

[Yeah, he really should.]

Your-

[A point, to his own upper lip.
...He's awkward, okay.]

[merged]

[ Heather blinks in confusion at his gesture, head tilting lightly and brow crinkling before it dawns on her. Her eyes widen, her cheeks flush and she quickly wipes the mess from her upper lip with the back of her hand, double checking she got it all with a flick of her tongue.

Ah, fuck. ] Am I good?

[ His awkwardness doesn't go entirely unnoticed but it's background noise to her embarrassment in that moment. ]

[bravers]

[And of course, he keeps his eyes away, well away, from Heather as she wipes at her face. And when she asks, and he's supposed to bring them back...]

Yeah.

[They're definitely a pair. And needless to say, two awkward people in a (pretty shitty) blanket tent equals a large silence. He moves his eyes away again, focusing on plucking more half-melted marshmallows from his cocoa.

...He...
Doesn't exactly know what to say. Not because of the moustache. Of course not, that's a stupid, little thing. It's unimportant. Just in general. He doesn't know what to say to a complete stranger, and now greetings, names, and even circumstance is done and dealt with, it's only silence that remains.

His eyes lower again, to his cue cards. It's... so stupid. All of the questions are meaningless.]

What food could you not live without?

[This. Is awful. But he's not getting shocked. That's something.]

[merged]

[ Heather relishes in the quiet, even if it lingers on awkward. She sips at her cocoa a little more carefully and occasionally drops her attention to her notebook, one handedly adding details she'd missed of Cloud's features before; his eyes seem brighter, almost like glowing pools.

When he speaks up, her attention returns to him, blinking at the question as she tries to process it. ]

Poptarts. [ She finally utters with a dip of her head. God, she sounds like a kid but, look, these things are amazing. She immediately moves on to explain them. ] They're these prepackaged pastries filled with, like, a sweet filling and have a hard frosting on top. Best things when toasted. All I can find are some weird, whole-grain version here and it's awful.

[ She even begins to sketch out the glorious pastries. Rectangular and frosted with sprinkles. She adds tiny eyes and grin to bring them to life. And then she realizes she just blurted out a bunch of silly words and can only offer up one thing in return: ] What about you?

[ A lame question, sure, but she likes to introduce others to the wonderful world of awful pastries. ]