Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

[sumarusfinest]

On a sleepy summer morning a wonderful smell begins to waft throughout the Nexus. For those familiar with this place there can only be one explanation but for those new faces to the nexus this may be a strange thing: seeing so many people flocking toward the sweet and savory scents perfuming the Nexus.

There are a few tables set out this morning in the Plaza in front of a small cafe loaded with several carafes of coffee, a myriad of pastries from more than a few different worlds and cultures, and a large pan of eggs and sausage kept warm over a chafing dish. On either end of the table are disposable plates, cups, and cutlery as well as a few welcome pamphlets in a small container. Along the front of the tables is a hand made banner.

Meet and Greet

Manning the tables is Katsuya Suou, red apron on and a cup of coffee in hand. He looks far too cheerful for how early in the morning it is. It's always satisfying to put one of these on and see the throngs of different people stuck in line together to get their food and find a place to sit among the tables and couches nearby.

"Right then, is anyone hungry? I've got more than enough here for everyone so please mingle among yourselves or feel free to ask me anything you'd like."


((OOC: This thread is ALL ABOUT threadjacking and hopping. I encourage folks to tag on each other's comments and mingle rather than to reply only to me. This is a huge opportunity to have your characters interact with people they wouldn't have talked to before. Branch out! Meet new people! Scheme new schemes! Steal the last chocolate croissant!))

Comments

[jarheadclan]

Hey, two of Jake's favorite things in one place. "Hey, Alec," the Na'vi greets him with a broad grin, snagging one of the dragonfruit on offer, not that he has any real idea how you're supposed to eat it. "Wow, that's a hell of a spread. You throw this together last minute?"

[houmaprotector]

"Jake." This guy gets it. The words of that girl echo in his mind. There are people who get it. This man is potentially one of them. He knows the shock of being thrown into another place, finding a place in that other place.

Several people around the party pause and gasp in wonder as the grass brightens and Alec looks abashed, "...Is it a party foul if sudden plants pop up? Never something I had to worry about."

You know. Before.

"I did. I tried to think of as many fruits as I could and paired that down by...a lot to stuff most human beings and living creatures eat. Want me to open that for you?"

Most of the time fruit wants to be eaten. Vegetables too. While trees and other plants have grand notions of themselves and their place in the green, the things that human beings grow and consume accepted ages ago their role in the circle of life and were even proud of it.

[jarheadclan]

Jake chuckles, flashing sharp teeth. "Y'know, I never thought about it before, but I'd say no. S'long as they aren't the poisonous kind anyway."

The offer to open up the dragonfruit is fine by Jake, and he gladly hands it over. "Sure, thanks. I haven't seen one of these things before. Kinda looks like utumauti, just smaller." He gets a thoughtful look while he watches Alex open that baby up. "Can you just do Earth stuff, or can you learn how to grow other plants?"

[houmaprotector]

All Alec has to do is ask and the fruit cracks open, exposing sweet white skin before he hands it back, "I can learn. If I can learn it's language, learn about it's green, I can grow anything anyone needs. Did you have something you wanted?"

[jarheadclan]

Handy. Jake takes the fruit and sniffs it, before taking a bold bite. The flavor is surprisingly mild, but sweet. "Nah, just curious, mostly. I haven't seen a lotta Pandoran plants around here, and this place could use s'more color though." He chews on the dragonfruit thoughtfully. "Maybe I could show you Pandora sometime. Getcha some new plants you can grow if you feel like it, you know?"

[houmaprotector]

"I'd be very interested." A new green? A new planet? a planet his predecessor hadn't been to?

I never thought of travelling to a different green. Seeing other plants, other creatures, connecting to them...

He paused, pulling himself back and trying not to seem too eager, "If you ever have the time."

[jarheadclan]

Oh man, does he ever. Being clan leader keeps Jake plenty busy, but it's a good type of busy, not mandatory overtime kill-yourself-slowly-for-a-paycheck kind of busy. Even a clan leader can take breaks sometimes, and it can't be all business all the time.

Besides, he's only gotten to show off his new home to a couple people. He grins, and lightly slaps at Alec's upper arm, friendly-like. "Oh yeah, you betcha." His grin falters slightly though as it occurs to him that he doesn't know how well his leafy friend can handle Pandoran atmo. Easy to forget, when your body's fully adapted to breathing it, that not everyone has that luxury. "Pandoran air's got a ton of CO2, and some stuff that human lungs ain't too happy with. Heavy metals and shit. You okay with that, or... maybe we could rig you up a breathing mask?"

[houmaprotector]

Alec? Alec laughs. The big green man puts a hand on his middle and laughs, "Plants exude oxygen and take in CO2. If the atmosphere is primarily that I'll just be...breathing easier."

It makes him wonder, if there were still a human body beneath the mantle, would he have a problem? Even as a...reanimated body he was still undergoing photosynthesis. He'd felt it.

"I'm constantly exuding oxygen." businesslike and official, "Similarly as to how I'm constantly consuming energy. Heavy metals is a bit more concerning...what sort of heavy metals?"

He pauses, "Or if your green is willing I could grow myself a body and just make myself a temporary part of the ecosystem. I'd have to ask the planet directly. I don't...breathe anymore in a way that human beings understand."

[jarheadclan]

Oh, sweet, that makes things much easier. Alec's plant enough that this'll work out fantastic, although the mention of growing a whole new body is intriguing as hell. Way more organic than the cloning stuff the eggheads did for the Avatar Project. "Stuff called unobtainium; Earth doesn't have it, so if you've never heard of it, I ain't surprised. I don't know how it works, but the solid ore floats and screws with magnets, and I guess there's enough bits in the atmosphere that you can breathe it in if the CO2 and hydrogen something-ruther doesn't get you first. My old body took a couple lungfuls once; it was pretty gnarly." To put it mildly.

Alec's idea definitely has Jake interested, that's for sure. "Man, I gotta wonder what Eywa's gonna think of that," he chuckles. "I'd be happy to introduce you."

[houmaprotector]

"Eywa is your green?" An intense looking Swamp Thing might put off a lot of people, thank goodness he's talking to a big blue alien - with a human consciousness, "Your...the goddess? The earth mother? You know her?"

The red connects to the green?

To say he's excited is an understatement.

[jarheadclan]

Jake used to think being excited about a planet-brain was weird and bullshit. Oh what little he knew, then. So he's pretty stoked to see Alec so excited about it himself, without having met Her yet. "Yeah, we've got an... interesting relationship. Any Na'vi can talk to her by plugging into the right trees, but I had to pass through Her eye to get put in this body permanently. It's been years and I still don't have words for how that felt."

[houmaprotector]

He describes her as sentient. As if she has an identity apart from nature. The green is just the green, as he imagines the red is the red and the rot is the rot. The human beings they use add their personalities but each kingdom is motivated by survival. That need influences the beings they elevate to Godhood.

The way Jake speaks of this god, this planet brain, makes Alec pause. She sounds like an actual God. A real divine being.

To say he's excited is an understatement.

"...Sudden changes coming from nature, any sort of nature are..." He stared at his own massive hands, "...difficult, to put into words. Most human beings can't wholly understand them."

[jarheadclan]

Jake nods, understanding well enough what Alec means. "I dunno if I fully get it either, honestly. Never been a big fan of... poetry and stuff like that, but I don't know if that'd help anyway. It just kinda... is what it is."

[houmaprotector]

"...I'll have to bring you a book or two as a gift for what you're doing for me." To say that he's promising to be respectful is an understatement.

He shrugs, "Your attitude is...infecteous. Makes me not regret all of this so much. Not that I ever did-"

Mostly.

"...But someone who truly respects becoming part of something new...it's good to see."

[jarheadclan]

Oh, he doesn't have to do that... but Jake's pretty bad at refusing gifts without offending people, so he just grins at Alec. "Thanks, man."

His attitude's been through a hell of a change in the past couple years, so he totally gets what the other guy means, and nods a bit. "After everything I've been through, I'd be some kinda idiot not to take it all serious. But it's important, and I got no regrets."

[houmaprotector]

"...You're...wise. Jake Sully."

Alec extends a hand, "And you'll have a friend in this world's green. I'm excited to see what your world has in store. I was - as a scientist I - a real alien ecosystem."

[jarheadclan]

Heh. Wise ass, maybe. "Not yet, but I'm still learnin'." He grins and shakes Alec's hand without hesitation. Man, he likes his guy, and he hopes Eywa will too. "Can't wait to have ya. You're gonna love it."

[houmaprotector]

"I'm appreciative. Come and find me when you're prepared. Or if there's anything I need to do...please reach out and let me know. I'll be in the wilds for the foreseeable future."