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

[bravers]

[See, he's about to raise his head again and move back. But the shift in the other man's shoulder- lower- and the fact it relaxes makes him not. He turns his eyes back to the screen, pretty comfortable now.]

Nope. Pretty sure I'd remember something like that. Maybe they died out. They don't look that strong.

[A Moomba. More or less the same colour as Red, vaguely feline too, but he's certain the comparison would piss him off to no end. Much less the fact that they seem bipedal too. And their paws. ...So oversized. He shifts, once more, before he watches Seifer pull over the box. So that was it...]

Good work. What about the enemies?

[Platformer logic. Anything smaller than you that moved has to be an enemy.]

Do you jump on them to kill them, or spin at them?

[firacrux]

[There are very few people Seifer tolerates in his space like this, Cloud's definitely made the list after some of the things they've shared. It's just unexpected since the spikey blonde is usually so... standoffish. He's not complaining though. Cloud must really be tired to be trying.]

I dunno how prevalent they are, few were employed at a prison... [He falters there, awkward and uncomfortable. Moving on.] Janitors, maintenance, shit like that. Couldn't talk. They just meow.

[Smart enough to roughly follow orders at least. If he knew about Red Seifer's not sure if it would be an insult or not. He didn't know much about Moombas beyond their function at the prison, Squall would be the one to ask about more.]

You can jump on 'em and they pop!

[He did figure that much out! It took a bit before it made sense though.]

Will the spinning kill them?

[He might as well try that too. Cloud's a good backseat gamer.]

[bravers]

Yeah? S'weird. Employing monsters. Maybe the Galbadians [Yeah, he's seen that memory. Existed in Seifer's brain for a while too. He knows.] didn't want anyone talking, so they couldn't trust humans.

[He's tired, yes. Woefully so. While his body could heal something that other peoples' just couldn't without intervention- it's not like it doesn't take a toll. So yeah. He's tired. But it's okay. It's not like he's got to work, or do anything but sit in this place, trying to make the best of it.

The best of it, of course, is right here. Especially at the way Seifer seems to be delighted with that discovery. It's... nice, actually. The fact that he doesn't have to work his fingers to the bone to actually feel satisfied with something. He watches the screen a little more, spying one enemy with a large looking spike on its back.]

Maybe. If you jump on that guy, looks like you're gonna regret it. Try it. If it doesn't work, you get another go. 'Cause you're trying something out.

[Ettiquette. Yep. Not a lack of focus because of tiredness, nope. He stifles a small yawn, moving his cheek, lightly, against the (cheap) floof of the bodysuit.

...Yes, this is comfortable.]

[firacrux]

[Seifer has a lot of unpleasant memories in there. At least Cloud didn't ask him to elaborate.] Maybe, or they're just easy to boss around and you don't gotta pay 'em.

[Galbadians are assholes like that. Why pay good labor when you can get free labor? The good thing about this particular NAPs event was that sleeping was expected. They couldn't get mad at him for not moving around and socializing if he's on pillow duty right?]

[Sometimes it's the simple things. Seifer never had video games. Never grasped the concept. Yet here he was gradually figuring it out with Cloud's help. Successfully spinning and destroying the spikey shelled monster thing was its own small victory. He even let out a quiet exclamation of surprise and delight. It worked! How cool.

Somehow Seifer has a feeling Cloud might be falling asleep. He's not going to stop him.]

You played this before?

[bravers]

Mmn. Hope you blew up the place when you moved on.

[He had to have moved on. He doesn't exactly know how things went from that torture chamber to Galbadia Garden's auditorium where he'd next ...seen(?) him, but he can't imagine somewhere like that prison serving anything more than what Seifer needed at that exact time. He doesn't know everything but... it seems unlikely.

And... he remembered saying Seifer's own retort when Squall had accused him of being nothing but a torturer. Felt just as vindicated, too. He wasn't just a torturer. But... he can't condone it. He can't judge, either. It's not like he's not gained information by cracking a few skulls himself. So. There's little judgement. But it's not a subject he wants to linger on either. It's not just some deadbeat that got all that electricity. It's Squall.

His tone is sluggish, but his eyes open to look at the screen at the question.]

No... my mother's house didn't have a TV, let alone anything like this. We were poor as hell.

[He curls up a little closer, closing his eyes again.]

Used to spend time in the mountains instead. [...Or staring into a certain girl's window, as if begging to be let in. But less about that. That's... mortifying. Amd so, so creepy now.] There's a range right outside where I grew up. Mt. Nibel's gigantic.

[Slight pause.] In Midgar, though, there were a ton of arcades. Any money I didn't send home got spent there. [And.] Was there anything like that in Garden? Or was the Training Centre the only thing there to pass the time?

[firacrux]

Unfortunately I had other things to worry about.

[Like trying to drag Squall for information among other things. It's not a subject he's very keen to discuss in detail. The whole thing still makes him rather ill to think back on. Sadly, Squall didn't blow it up either.

Maybe they can do that later.

Let them not discuss the details, or what Cloud might have gleaned out of their memories. It was a bad time for everyone and Seifer still hates himself a hell of a lot for it all.]

You knew your mother? [A beat.] What was she like?

[It's probably way too personal a question. Way, way too personal, but... can Cloud blame him for being curious? To know what being wanted was like, even for a little while?

Seifer's chocobo suit is very cozy to curl up in.]

Mountains are nice. We had one on Balamb Island, probably not as big as the one you're talking about though.

[It was nice and tall and snowy though. He shook his head at the question.] Study, or training. People with families could go back home for breaks and leave. Some athletic stuff like skating but who the hell wants to do that? Or, if you could get out of the building, you could hunt monsters in the fields outside the school.

[So fight, or learn how to fight, were pretty much his only options for entertainment. Or harassing students.]

[bravers]

[Your besties got a flying training camp, a private army, and an actual spaceship, Seifer. And he owes you a favour or three. When you're back, it's time to get on that. ...If he went back. He's not stating it, but he's aware that Seifer doesn't intend to go back to his world. It's... not something to be talked on. It's his decision, after all, and honestly? He's... thinking about the same himself. So.]

...Vibrant. [His tone lowers, but it's not out of distaste. It's more... quiet. Careful. Actually... sad. There's a faint reverence to his voice, something heartfelt. Something that hurt.] Full of life. But she died before she should've.

[He's quick to change the subject.]

Garden sounds dull.

[Obviously dull. It's a facility to train mercenaries. Of course there wasn't any distractions. He moves his cheek against the chocobo suit again, his body tensing, and then loosening.]

What did you do to stay... you?

[Read: Not a brainless robot.]

[firacrux]

[If he goes back. If any of them remember. Otherwise all these things are moot and all this struggling has been a waste of time. That's another part of why Seifer doesn't want to go back, if he returns the likelihood he won't remember any of this is higher. If he goes elsewhere maybe he can hold onto what he's learned. Who he's become.

At the description of Cloud's mother Seifer only nods solemnly. Empty apologies, or condolences, wouldn't do any good here. But he can offer a quiet ear and a shoulder to lean on. Yeah, he understands that. Can't remember any of his own, but he can understand the ache of the loss to some degree.

Yeah, subject change.]

Tell me about it.

[Missions were interesting, training kept him occupied, fighting things larger and stronger than himself also did. But otherwise? High school with more violence. Boring.]

Honestly? I don't know. Guess they just couldn't kill me no matter how hard they tried.

[And boy did they. But Seifer always maintained those features that made him distinctly himself. Even if it also came with a heavy dose of resentment, rebelliousness, and trouble making. Why respect an institution that has made it clear they only see you as a number? An asset to be discarded as soon as you're no longer profitable.]

[bravers]

[He gets that. He really does. There's... a lot, to be honest, he doesn't remember from ever being in SOLDIER. It's strange, how he doesn't remember anything but Nibelheim. But he remembers a lot from being infantry. And with that comes a lot of his sentiment.

The things Seifer comments on. The things he's seen- in fuzzy memories- the faculty, the rules. It was similar in the infantry. Not as strictly enforced, sure. The faculty members seem like the worst of the MPs. But he gets it.

And back then, he wasn't anything like Seifer. He obeyed everything. Blindly. He believed everything. Blindly.]

I'm glad.

[And less emotionally..]

Watch it.

[There's spiny things dropping from the roof of the cave the little animal is in now. And yep. There's a giant rock coming right toward him.]