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

[ferrokinetically]

"Thank you," she says with an exaggerated emphasis on the word thank. "I had someone tell me my fashion choice was misguided once. Really, it's just practical for someone like me." That's some more points over in his column. Compliments aren't something she's particularly used to, not in the climate she comes from.

It's smart he chooses not to make a comparison to a gang though.

She scrunches her eyebrows up quizzically. "Second coolest? Ouch. What's number one?"

[legacy_blade]

Practical for someone like her? Interesting. That leaves him wondering just what spikes make practical. Sure, he gets the warmer clothes, because you never know when a place is going to be cold. But the rest? Nah, better not ask. That was home stuff. And home stuff could make people squirmy.

"His name is Sephiroth. Silver hair, all the way down his back, probably down to his ass. And the guy is taller than me, so you can do some math there. Massive. Hair longer than a child is tall. And shiny. Not like real silver. More like a soft gray. Guy's blessed."

Sorry Seph, he might be starting a fanclub by accident. Hopefully not.

[ferrokinetically]

"Silver is totally not better than green. Plenty of old people get silver hair." So clearly he's not superior to her green hair, okay? "Besides, mine used to be longer, but it was harder to hide it then." It's never been as long as the hair he's describing but she can't imagine why anyone would want hair that long. Recipe for disaster right there.

"Sounds like you're pretty into this guy," a smile tugs at the edges of her lips as she teases.

[legacy_blade]

"Yeah, but hair long enough that you'd need, like, a whole bottle of shampoo to wash it each day? And the guy's a master swordsman. But he never loses hair in a fight. So that's awesome too. The hair is a testament to ask kicking. And now I sound more into him. He was just my idol for a bit growing up, until I found better people to look up to."

Hide it? Wait, now the guy is frowning. Like a puppy that is very confused as to why you aren't giving it a treat.

"And wait, why would you want to hide your hair?"

[ferrokinetically]

"That just sounds like ridiculous levels of high maintenance." She shrugs one shoulder nonchalantly. And expensive. Imagine how much one person would have to spend on conditioner and shampoo with that much hair. It's crazy.

"No offense but he still sounds like he's your idol." There's that same teasing tone there. At the very least he sounds like someone he admires a lot.

She leans back in the chair and crosses one leg over the other. "People where I'm from don't like when things don't look natural. Mostly because non-natural usually means mutant."

[legacy_blade]

Well, when it's custom made for you by the company, it's a lot less expensive.

"He was, once. But now? Knowing the guy and working with him? Take a lot of the shine off."

But wait, he's very confused by this word she's chosen. "What's a mutant?"

[ferrokinetically]

The Inner Circle probably would offer that if they needed to. Anything to sucker someone in, including free shampoo for floor length hair.

She lets out a scoff that mixes with just a hint of bitterness. "Been there before. It's amazing how quick the shine turns to rust when you see a person for who they really are." What a depressing turn that's taken. She gives him a lopsided smirk. "It was the amount of conditioner he went through that really did you in, huh?"

That confusion was weird to her. She's so used to people just understanding and hating. "Me." She raises a hand and green mist swirls around it pulling one of her tactical knives out from it's place tucked into her straps. It dances around on the palm of her hand as she watches for his reaction. "People with the X-Gene."

[legacy_blade]

Oh man, she's funny. Zack bursts out laughing. It was way more complicated than that, but he likes this answer instead. A lot.

"Yeah. I don't like high maintenance people. Gets in the way when your work can send you out at any hour."

Still, he's left staring again, this time a confused puppy look. Sure, he's never seen magic do EXACTLY that, but he's also certain he hasn't seen every spell there is.

"What's an X-Gene? And how did you do that? The light in the air was sorta like casting magic, but it didn't feel like it."

[ferrokinetically]

Everything's always more complicated but she's happy to get a laugh from someone. There wasn't much laughter around her lately.

"Exactly. Besides, think about how long it must take him to thoroughly wash it. Either he wastes hours of time on it or it ends up being a smelly grease trap." These are the important things to consider. "Then he makes you late for going to work. Tons of problems."

She keeps playing with the knife and laughs at the confused look he makes. It's a light laugh filled with genuine amusement. It's a refreshing reaction to not be met with fear or discomfort.

"It's a gene some people end up born with that makes us different from normal humans." She's got no idea how familiar he is with science and fine details of things like this, so she keeps it simple. "Some of us end up with physical mutations," she picks up a lock of her hair with her other hand. "Some look just like humans. The thing we all have in common is that we all were gifted with special abilities. Usually different things for different people."

[legacy_blade]

These are important things to consider. And thanks Zack REALLY needs to ask Sephiroth now. Notes are being made, internally. Still, he takes the rest of what she says in stride and nods.

"Yeah, I mean. That's just what makes you special, right? My girlfriend back home? She's special too."

In a very different way. She's an Ancient, and can talk with the very life force of the planet, know when people die, heal without spells. She's... special. The very thought of her earns a very fond smile from Zack. He... really misses her.

[ferrokinetically]

"Sounds like something my boyfriend would say,"She smiles gently, and more earnestly than before. She's been painstakingly dedicated to avoiding thoughts about him until now. Somehow it figures that their little family would get a chance to be back together again just to have something else go wrong.

"Humans don't see it as special though. They just see it as dangerous." And when fear takes hold of people that's really all that matters to them. "What can she do that makes her special?"

[legacy_blade]

Oh, well now the playful flirting will evaporate into just playful conversation. But he does get the point. And frowns as he remembers Aerith, with the Turks always watching her. Hopefully Tseng kept her safe until the point where Cloud took over. Except... Cloud said things had gone wrong, and now she was off on her own, after Sephiroth and...

And the thought hurt.

"Aerith has... a special connection with our planet."

[ferrokinetically]

"That does sound special." There's sadness in her eyes that she blinks back. It's not good for the badass dressed in black image. It's always amazing how quickly a conversation can make a left turn.

"Maybe we should have stuck to the witty banter about your idols luscious hair," she chuckles.

[legacy_blade]

Hey, normally he's also a badass dressed in black. Just... today he's in pajamas and silly and here as moral support for his best friend. And yeah, meeting people too.

"If you want, we can switch to cute hair. My best friend? His hair looks a bit like a chocobo."

[ferrokinetically]

"I just don't wanna make you do that puppy face look sad instead of just confused. Not that it wasn't cute." Plus she really doesn't want to talk too much about Marcos right now. It'll hurt way too much for her and sometimes she's selfish.

"That reference right there would mean a lot more to me if I knew what a chocobo was."

[legacy_blade]

"Oh come on, I haven't even been in this world two weeks and that's already happening? I'm not a puppy!" Zack protests. Which, of course, just says people have made the comparison before.

"And chocobos are large yellow birds, usually yellow at least, and really fast and strong and smart and they go Kweh and..."

He taps the cartoon one on his shirt. "Like this."

[ferrokinetically]

"You sure about that?" There's skepticism in his voice for exactly that reason. Sounds like he's gotten that a time or two before.

"Those birds?" Well they're kinda cute. But someone with hair like that? That would be a sight to see. "He's got hair like that?"

[legacy_blade]

He is not discussing whether he is, or isn't, a puppy. He'll pass, okay? Hard pass. Especially since he now misses Angeal.

"These birds. They're all over back home. Sorta sad there aren't any around here. But yeah, his hair looks a bit like a chocobo in being fluffy and blond and sticking everywhere like feathers. I bet he can do a really good Wark too."

[ferrokinetically]

"How much hair gel does he use?" she laughs with the comment. "And most importantly: did he intend to style his hair like a bird?" These are clearly the very important topics.

[legacy_blade]

"So far as I know? None. He's just naturally a spiky boy."

How he does it is a marvel of modern science. No one shall ever know. Or he is very stealthy about his hair products. Either is possible.

[ferrokinetically]

"Just born with the hair of a bird native to your world. Some boys get all the luck," she chuckles and shakes her head.

"Then again your hair's pretty far on the spiky side. Hair gel or just a natural born gift?"

[legacy_blade]

"I mean, he has me as his friend, so yeah, tons of luck," Zack's grinning. His hands come up through his own hair and he appreciates the attention.

"Natural born perfection. And a bit of gel. I admit, I try to enhance what I've got going for me. But mostly to keep it back.

[ferrokinetically]

"I like the confidence. You wear it well," she chuckles. He had to have a lot of confidence to pull of the spiky hair look anyway.

"Only a little bit of gel?" There's a teasing skepticism in her voice.

[legacy_blade]

Skepticism? Oh no. That's not acceptable. Zack leans forward over the table and leans in just enough for fingers to get into his hair if she wants to.

"Test me. I promise not to disappoint."

[ferrokinetically]

Okay, now that, that actually gets a hearty laugh from her. Lorna's never been one to think before she does something so she just reaches right in and ruffles his hair up. There's a crunch, but just like he said it's not much of one.

"Looks like you weren't kidding. All natural spikes."