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

[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."

[legacy_blade]

Natural spikes indeed. And he is quite pleased, because he got you to mess with his hair.

"I'm just naturally awesome like this."

[ferrokinetically]

"So awesome that you get your hair to defy gravity. That's next level awesome." She can't help but grin. It's so different than what she's used to back home and she'd be lying if she said it wasn't nice.

[legacy_blade]

"Well, I'm pretty amazing, even back home," Zack laughs, shaking his head. Then he pulls back and winks.

"You know green and spikes would be awesome. So you're a little jealous."

[ferrokinetically]

"I am jealous, not gonna lie. I'm not sure if I could pull off the spiked hair look though," she grins and shrugs. "Maybe I'm just not as awesome as you."

[legacy_blade]

"Oh come on, you strike me as super awesome all on your own."

Because this all makes a lot of sense to him that she's awesome. If nothing else, she's got a lot of energy and strength, and that's what she's got. Zack just learned to be a soldier.

[ferrokinetically]

"But am I spiked hair awesome?" Clearly it was a completely different category of awesome.

[legacy_blade]

"I don't know. That's a whole other level of awesome. But I think you might be able to manage it. You've got some serious attitude."

And he's grinning.

[ferrokinetically]

"Been told I have too much attitude by some." Some less intelligent people who couldn't fully appreciate her snark.

[legacy_blade]

"Well, clearly they didn't know what quality attitude is at all," Zack laughs, because he does, and Lorna, she's got quality.