+1 Fluffy alien arrives

[slicksalesman]

Nearby the Crossroads Cafe, a yellow alien can be seen glancing around the surrounding area with such awe and amazement expressed on her face.

"Howdy, I'm Celeste and I'm new here!" she greeted warmly as she waved, "My brother and sister-in-law told me about Nexus and asked me to come move in with 'em!"

The nebulanian looked thoughtful for a moment.

"So, what are yer folks' hobbies?" she asked as she tilted her head, "What do ya do to unwind?"

Comments

[readvondaniken]

Palmer's relaxing in a chair with a drink, but he looks up to notice Celeste. "Celeste, huh? The name's James Palmer. Good to meet you." The mechanic straightens. "Welcome to the Nexus. I take it you saw the PSA? A lot of it's learn as you go, but there are some important things."

"As for what I do to wind down? Sometimes I get a smoke and drop by one of the local coffee places. As for hobbies, sometimes I make things in my shop. I'm a bit of an inventor."

[slicksalesman]

"That's right," Celeste turned her attention to Palmer and nodded, smiling brightly at him as she offered him a handshake, "It's a pleasure to meet ya, James,"

She nodded.

"I've seen the PSA. Still amazed that there's such a thing as a multiverse," she admitted before she looked curious, "But, I think it wouldn't hurt to know some important stuff the PSA didn't mention?"


The nebulanian tilted her head curiously, her antennae flickering.

"An inventor, ya say?" she wondered out loud, "Um, what do ya invent?"

[readvondaniken]

"Good to meet you, too. The Nexus is a nice place most of the time, if on the unpredictable side."

"There's some great restaurants in the Plaza which are good places to start. The Viper's Pit is great, too. Unless you can defend yourself, I wouldn't go into the Wilds. The Anti-Violence Field isn't so strong there. If you see banners, get outta there real quick."

He gives a slight smile.

"Pretty much anything. I tinker with machines sometimes. Metal. Cars. Weapons, even. Nexus ain't completely free of violence, unfortunately."

[slicksalesman]

She smiled warmly and nodded, listening intently.

"Unpredictable?" Celeste looked curious, "In what way is the Nexus unpredictable? Is it 'cos of the folks that arrive here when ya least expect it?"

She perked up when she heard about restaurants.

"I think I should visit some of these restaurants sometime," the alien grinned before she looked serious, "I take it there's dangerous critters in the Wilds? Are there some dangerous folks that live here?"

She looked quite curious and in awe.

"That's quite impressive," she smiled before she looked serious, "Is it 'cos of some folks here?"

[readvondaniken]

"You never know what'll happen here. That's a good thing and a bad thing."

Palmer chuckles. Yeah, the Nexus is unpredictable, all right.

"There's predators, yeah. Then there's the Fallen. They attacked us last winter, killed people and stole stuff, but we made a deal with them when spring came. They leave us alone, we leave them alone. But if anybody goes on their territory it's their funeral." He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the Wilds. "They really hate humans, but I wouldn't expect better treatment if you're not human, either."

Palmer's a rare visitor to the Wilds, but he has an idea of what to look out for. "Their territory's marked. You gotta keep your eye out when you're out there. If you see banners with symbols on 'em, turn back quick and hope they didn't see you."

He shrugs when Celeste asks him why he has weapons. "Can't afford to be too careful. I don't want to use them, but sometimes you won't have the choice."

[slicksalesman]

"Does the good unpredictable stuff happen more often, or the bad?" Celeste wondered out loud as she tapped her chin in thought, "I don't mind havin' some fun, as long as it's not too dangerous,"

The alien bit her lower lip as her antennae drooped when she listened to him describe what the Fallen had done to the people last winter.

"These Fallen Folks sound mighty dangerous," she murmured, "But, it's a relief they're gonna leave us alone. I take it the Wilds is the only place where folks encounter 'em?"

The nebulanian nodded.

"I take it those are warnin' signs, then? Just gotta keep an eye for 'em and I should be fine. Should be easy enough,"

Celeste gave Palmer a sympathetic look.

"Ah, especially when ya need to defend yerself or someone else?" she gave him an understanding nod, "I also dislike violence too, but I guess I'll do what I can to protect my love ones,"

[readvondaniken]

It's hard to explain.

"The Nexus is a crapshoot. Things can happen here that are good, bad, or flat-out weird. Like the giant spiders a while back, or when everyone's thoughts were in emojis. It's more often good or weird than bad, though. The only time things got really dangerous that I've seen was when the Fallen showed up. The anti-violence field went off, so they could kill people."

While he's relieved it's back, Palmer knows better than to trust the anti-violence field now.

"I wouldn't say it's the only place. They can come here, into the Plaza, though 'can' isn't the same as 'will'. If you see one, I'd stay out of their way, and if you can't be polite. Assuming they let us see them - they can become invisible, probably through some kinda technology they have."

Palmer isn't thrilled that the Fallen can visit the Plaza, given the mess they made of the Nexus, but it isn't as if anyone's in a place to stop them. He grits his teeth.

"The gun's not for them, not unless they break the truce. You never know when something else might happen here. I hope I never have to use it."

[lokiyouarenothelping]

"Hey there."

So new people appear all the time, huh? He's not surprised.

"To unwind? Depends. Read, talk to people, or just do whatever I feel like at the moment, if anything interesting's happening."

[slicksalesman]

"Howdy!" Celeste greeted as she turned her attention to him, a bright smile on her face, waving at him.

"So, ya find fun in lots of things?" the yellow alien asked, tilting her head, "If I may ask, whaddya find interestin'?"

[lokiyouarenothelping]

There are so many species in Nexus. Maybe even more than in Nine Realms, he thinks.

"Mhm, in many things. Though not in all. Definitely not in adventures, I've found."

"Learning Magic is best. Reading is fun, too."

[slicksalesman]

Celeste continued to smile warmly at him, her tail swishing from side to side in curiosity.

"Ah, I guess some hobbies are more suited for some folks than others," she nodded in understanding, "I love readin' and some adventure, but not when it's too dangerous,"

The alien tilted her head curiously while her antennae wiggled for a moment.

"Ya learn magic? Does this mean yer a sorcerer?"

[lokiyouarenothelping]

"Yes, I am."

Calling himself a sorcerer this young? Sure, why not. He can be proud. If somebody called him a sorcerer here, even if accidentally, he might as well say that it's so, too.

[slicksalesman]

"So, ya are a sorcerer?" Celeste appeared to be quite impressed as her tail swished from side to side, "What type of spells do ya do?"

[coffee_elf]

Oh, hey, that's cool! Someone who's not human! Such people seem few and far between in the Nexus, at least to Rondo's eyes. He's a little biased.

He himself is about Celeste's height--actually, a couple inches shorter--with the pinkish-ivory skintone some humans share, an elongated face and rounded little nose, and pointed ears with several earrings on each. He smiles, welcoming and curious, and ambles closer. He's got books in his arms, and something akin to a tablet or ipad on top of the stack.

"Hey!" He greets. "Lately I'm into audio plays, especially from indie producers. You can get them free on the Network, only I donate to the developers because I have the spare money, and some of the stories are wild. I go for historical-fantasy fiction, mostly."

"There are infocasts I like, too," he adds. "Just anything interesting I can listen to while I do schoolwork, because I have trouble focusing sometimes without background noise."

[slicksalesman]

Celeste smiled warmly when Rondo approached her, looking curious for a moment when she noticed the books and the gadget on top of the stack.

"Howdy," she greeted back as she waved at the elf. Her tail moved a bit, almost as if she's wagging it, "Audio plays, huh? They sound quite fascinatin'. Do they have all sorts of audio plays for other genres too?"

The fluffy person nodded in understanding.

"So, it's basically like playin' certain songs to help ya concentrate and get ya into the feelin' of wantin' to study?" Celeste asked as she tilted her head curiously at him.

[coffee_elf]

"Oh, yes! There's a lot of horror, and comedy, and there are a lot of political infocasts. Although those get kind of exhausting where certain issues are concerned. It's like people keep going over the same arguments over and over and no one can let it go." He shakes his head.

"But that's just the nature of politics, I guess."

He nods. "That, and sometimes the information is good if I'm listening to something factual. But the dorms I live in are a little bit noisy, so having background voices I can control is a huge help."

[slicksalesman]

"I understand what ya mean," Celeste nodded as she gave him an understanding nod, "The horror
and comedy sound mighty fun to listen to, though. So, ya find 'em on the Network? Do ya perhaps have some of these audio plays from where ya came from?"

The nebulanian looked curious.

"I think I need to try that myself," she mused out loud, "If I may ask, what do ya study?"

[coffee_elf]

"I have a bunch downloaded onto my comm pad!" He perks up, visibly enthusiastic about sharing. "Do you want to hear? Do you have a device like this? I don't know if the files would be compatible between different worlds, but I bet we could find something around the Nexus that would convert them. Or another audio device we could pass back and forth."

He offers a handclasp, only a little shy about it. "You said your name is Celeste? I'm Rondo. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm a magic student. Mostly focused on mind-magic and force-magic right now. I may switch specializations later. Where are you from? My planet is called Arraka'ar."

[slicksalesman]

"Yep!" Celeste beamed before she dug into her backpack and pulled out a flat phone-like device, "This is my Nebulagram. Maybe it'll play it? If not, I'm sure we can find somethin' to help us out,"

She nodded as she smiled shyly at him.

"It's a pleasure to meet ya, Rondo," the nebulanian's smile became warmer yet still shy.

Celeste looked curious, her antennae perked up.

"That sounds quite fun to learn. Do ya learn other types of magic later?" she asked as she tilted her head curiously, "I'm from a planet called Planet Nebula. What is yer planet like?"

[dreamguardian]

As a creature of the dream dimension, NiGHTS had seen all manner of creatures. Visiting the Nexus, they also had seen a wide variety of people wandering through. However they hadn't seen anyone like this being before!

NiGHTS spotted them down by the cafe as they flew over the central area of town. New folks tended to show up in the main square where all the couches were so sometimes the Nightmaren tended to check the place out. Curious, they flew down lower and was almost at street level when the newcomer voiced a question.

"Hobbies?" They asked, flying up from behind in a small shower of sparkles. They stopped and hovered next to the alien with a broad gesture, twirling in mid-air. "I guess you could say my hobby is I love to fly! What do you like to do?"

[slicksalesman]

Celeste was a bit surprised for a moment when NiGHTS flew up to her from behind; a bit in awe when she noticed the small shower of sparkles behind them.

"Wow, that must be so much fun. Do these sparkles how ya fly?" she asked, her tail wagging in excitement while her eyes sparkled, "I enjoy makin' plush toys and readin'. I also enjoy bakin', especially for my pals and family,"

[dreamguardian]

NiGHTS grinned. "It's called various things like star trails..twinkle dust..." They shook their head, the tails of their jester-like hat swaying. "It doesn't make me fly. I can do that all on my own!" They did a flip to demonstrate, before reclining in mid-air as they observed the newcomer. By the sounds of it, they had lots of hobbies to make things fun. Though NiGHTS had never baked or made toys. Eating was also something new they were discovering here in the Nexus.

"My name is NiGHTS! I'm from the Dream Dimension. What's your name? Where are you from?" They asked curiously.

[slicksalesman]

"You can fly on yer own?" Celeste's eyes continued to glow like stars in the night sky while she listened to NiGHTS explain they can fly on their own, "That's amazin'! How does it feel to fly?"

The alien beamed before she rested a hand on her chest to introduce herself.

"Howdy, NiGHTS! My name is Celeste. I come from a planet called Nebula. May I ask where does the Dream Dimension come from?"

[dreamguardian]

NiGHTS hadn't heard of the planet Nebula, but it sounded neat regardless. Celeste was definitely interesting to the Nightmaren. Most of the non-native beings they've encountered in the Dream Dimension were human dreamers. The Nexus definitely had a more diverse population.

"The Dream Dimension is where people go when they sleep. All dreams are born there." NiGHTS explained, tilting their head with a smile before spreading their hands. "As for your question - flying is kind of indescribable! It's as natural as breathing or walking to most. I'm actually not sure what I would do if I wasn't able to fly..." They grimaced slightly, not liking to consider it. They could walk if they so chose - but they preferred to float.

"What's your planet like? Is this your first time here in the Nexus?"

[slicksalesman]

Celeste had to admit she found what NiGHTS described about their home to be quite fascinating.

"All dreams are born there?" she asked while her eyes sparkled brighter from awe, "How do they enter into our minds? Is it magic?"

The alien gave her an understanding nod.

"Especially since it's a big part of ya and all?" she asked.

Celeste looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered NiGHTS' question.

"It's quite peaceful and pretty. Our plants sparkle under the sunlight. They are mighty colourful. The cities are much more advanced too,"