cuddlecity | EVENT ▸ welcome week

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EVENT ▸ welcome week

EVENT 001: WELCOME WEEK

MOVE-IN DAY

Welcome to Cadelle, cuddlers! The city is — for the most part, at least — very happy with the first wave of volunteers who have chosen to spend time here! To help everyone get settled a little easier, Mayor Drake and her team have put together a series of helpful booths, each staffed by friendly citizen volunteers who are more than ready to answer any questions characters may have.

▸ First things first: visitors will need to visit City Hall to officially enroll as a Cadelle citizen. Once complete, they'll receive their Welcome Packet, which will include all of the most important items for settling in. Characters will find keys to their apartment and associated mail box, their housing assignment, and their pre-activated CuddleCard, ready to go. In addition, the volunteer coordinators have included a newly printed map of the city, as well as contact information for various city-run organizations, just in case!

▸ Due to the influx of energy from all of the new visitors, the city’s computer systems have been experiencing some "minor hiccups". While this is nothing to be concerned about, characters may find themselves mildly inconvenienced — they may have received keys that don’t work in their door, or been issued someone else's room assignment unknowingly!

▸ If they've arrived during regular business hours, characters are, of course, able to visit the maintenance office on the first floor of each building for help switching out their mismatched keys or determining their correct assignment. However, getting settled after hours will require a little extra creative problem solving — like asking a new friend if sharing a bed for the night seems reasonable, sleeping on the couches in the public lounges downstairs, or maybe even roughing it for the night outdoors. (Of course, there's always the frowned-upon methods of breaking and entering... not that you heard it from us!)

▸ As with any move-in day, there’s bound to be lots to see and do. Characters may need help carrying their things, or even just help finding their way around. If they're lucky enough to find their room without problem, they may not be so lucky in their assignment. They may find themselves living underneath someone who's got to be part elephant (who stomps that much at 6 AM?!) or just above someone who insists on burning every batch of popcorn they make! Get out there, meet the neighbors, and see what this city has to offer!

CITY SCAVENGER HUNT

A few days after the big move-in weekend, characters will find an unread message on their CuddlePhone, encouraging them to check out the CuddleTalk network for a very special message from two very special guests. When they do, they’ll find a cute (but admittedly very cheesy) video message from Cadelle’s volunteer coordinators, Flora and Cornelius. The video highlights a few of the most popular destinations in the city — Blaze Pizza, for example, the home of the ninety-second wood-fired pizza, or Dinah’s, where you can enjoy a literal bucket of fries perfect for sharing.

At the end of the video, a link will come up for characters to click if they are so inclined. They’ll be directed to a sign-up page for a city-wide scavenger hunt, with a grand prize promised for the first team to complete the challenge.

Want to participate?

▸ Characters will be able to sign up for the scavenger hunt either on their own or with a friend. (The prizes remain the same regardless of the size of the team, so if your character wants all the money for themselves, they'll either want to race it alone or pick a very generous teammate!)

▸ Among the many delicious dining destinations around Cadelle, characters will discover three venues that the volunteer coordinators have tapped as their current favorites. Somewhere in those three venues, characters will find a beautiful framed photo of Flora and Cornelius.

▸ When characters find the photo, they'll be instructed to take their best selfie, being sure to capture themselves, the framed snapshot, and their teammate (if they chose to bring one along) in the shot.

▸ The first group to send in all three selfies will win the grand prize — one month's stipend worth of extra CuddleBucks! However, all competitors who complete the challenge will be rewarded with a token of appreciation — one week's stipend worth of CuddleBucks, just for playing along!

▸ While characters explore the city, they just might find some "bonus" surprises along the way. Keep your eyes peeled!

Helpful Hint: To find the secret locations (and any hidden bonuses along the way), check out our CITY DIRECTORY for all the amazing destinations your character can explore! Feel free to sort by category on the left, and click your way through your first big adventure in the big city!

Mod Note: For fairness, the "grand prize" winner will be determined by RNG in a drawing on August 4 at 3:00 PM. If your character would like to be eligible to win the grand prize, please be sure to leave us a comment so we can include them in the drawing!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. MOVE-IN DAY.

[ the key to leonard's apartment isn't actually the key to his apartment. which he isn't really surprised by, honestly. everything about this situation has smacked of "too good to be true" so it's a little reassuring to see things going at least a bit wrong.

he doesn't make a big deal out of it, instead hanging out in the communal areas of gamma building during the day, watching everyone else and seeing how others who are having trouble react. and how maintenance responds to them. he doesn't go to get his own keys fixed. it's not like he needs them, anyway.

what he does need, as the day starts to turn to evening, is some food. ] Hey. [ he pitches his voice loud enough to be heard from where he's very weirdly slouching over some furniture. ] You had any of the grub here yet? How is it?

II. MOVE-IN DAY 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.

[ he gets his dinner eventually. and a few beers because that's what one does when one dies and then instead of seeing the pearly gates ends up some place where cuddling and acts of good will grants wishes. it's distinctly possible he's a little tipsy. and he may or may not be feeling like he needs to do something more like himself after that whole self-sacrificing thing.

which is why he decides he's gonna break into his own apartment from the outside instead of just picking his own lock like he'd been planning on at first. it's a terrible idea. and, because it's just how his life as been going the past couple days, leonard ends up slipping through the window into a dark apartment that is very much not his own.

and smacking his shin against a coffee table that was hiding in the shadows. ] Ow! Mother--

III. OOT AND ABOOT.

[ while he doesn't participate in the scavenger hunt, leonard does spend the first week or so exploring every inch of the city. at one point or another he can be found just about any place that doesn't solely have to do with the great outdoors or community service. (though he does--very, very, very briefly--stop in at the animal shelter.) there's a handful of places that he frequents multiple times and it's pretty clear they may end up usual hangouts for him.

the first is, unsurprisingly, criminales. it's his favorite kind of dive bar, and the fact that his partner's the one who owns it just makes it even better. it's quite possibly the only place in this city that immediately feels safe to leonard. that probably says something about him, but it's not anything he's going to be thinking about much.

other places you're likely to find him are the green room where he's just as likely to be hustling someone as playing fair, the cadelle museum of art where he is absolutely casing the place as much as he's appreciating the art, (old habits die hard) and, perhaps a bit surprisingly to some, the ice castle where he seems to enjoy watching people skate as much as he does doing it himself. and if he lets himself get coaxed into giving a kid hockey tips, well. doing good's just part of this whole deal, right? ]

IV. WILDCARD.

[ feel free to hit me up with whatever you want that's not here! i can also set up a specific starter if you like, just hit me up on plurk or discord (chanterie#3878) and lmk! ]

[having spent countless nights on the waverider where at any given moment all hell can break loose, mick's gotten accustomed living on little sleep. it doesn't make him particularly happy, but it does mean that he hears the telltale sounds of someone attempting to break in before leonard ever hits his coffee table.

which is why he's bolting out of his bed and immediately grabbing his heat gun and ready to rip a new one into whomever has the gall to break into a criminal's home and disturb his slumber.

this is of course until he hears the hissed swear. mick knows that voice as well as his own. it's bounced around his head for years — literally and metaphorically — which is the only reason why len isn't burnt to a crisp on entry.

the gruff reply is in stark contrast to how happy mick is to see his favorite klepto.]

Why don't you use the door like a normal person, Len?

Window was easier. [ this is a bald-faced lie. the window is not easier than picking two door locks. but it was there. and required less walking than going around to the front door would have.

leonard bends over to untie his boots and then toe them off, fully preparing to settle in for the night despite the fact that this is obviously not his apartment. it's mick's, so it's close enough for jazz. might as well be his own place. ]

Am I sleeping on the couch or are you budging over?

[mick knows that's a lie and that len knows that he knows it's a lie, but calling leonard snart out on it seems really unimportant right now, not when the last time they'd seen one another before coming here was when he'd carted len back to the past to hopefully become a better man, to become the man who saved them all.

snart is a goddamn sight for sore eyes and call him sentimental, but the familiarity with which he moves around in mick's apartment warms even the most cynical of hearts.

the bed, a double, is hardly big enough for one fully grown man let alone two, but mick's eyeing it and then back at the couch only to settle on the bed again. he shoots len a pointed look, shaking his head as he replies.]

Couch is hard as a rock. Don't recommend it. [which leaves just one viable option left because fuck if he's going to suggest that his partner and best friend sleep on the floor.] Just keep your cold mitts to yourself and I'll share.

Yeah, yeah. [ leonard steps on the toes of his socks to help pull them off, then dumps his coat on top his little pile of belongings right in front of the window.

it's a good thing mick's here. not because it makes this whole intimacy in exchange for possibly getting his life back thing easier to swallow--though it does do that--but because this whole thing really would've sucked if len had just drunkenly broken into a stranger's apartment and crashed on their couch for a few hours like he'd originally been planning. you know. if he couldn't get into his own.

he shuffles over to the bed and waves a hand at it. ] Pick a side. [ since it's his bed and all.

len waits until mick gets back into the bed to slide in next to him. he settles down quickly in that way that very tired people and people who are used to sleeping rough do. and then he immediately presses his very cold toes to mick's shins.

what? they're not his mitts. ]

[the weather's mild, but mick likes his apartment (and bed) nice and cool, so while leonard busies himself with socks and coat, he shuts the window, taking extra care to lock it this time. one intruder a night is enough, thank you very much.

though mick's not liable to mention it, he's thankful that of all the places that len could've ended up that his is the one. a little b&e might be harmless to some, but in this place, who knows how long a minor crime might set him back in getting whatever he wished for to bring him here. mick's not ready to see leonard leave, but he certainly doesn't want him staying longer than strictly necessary.

before long, mick's trudging back toward his bed. he's strictly a left side kind of person. the presence of another person does nothing to change that fact, and he climbs in without another word, shifting until he's on his side facing leonard. a very poor choice, he realizes as len smirks as chilly toes meet still sleep warm skin. mick makes to swat them away.] Jesus, Len. Nobody's gonna cuddle with you if stick your toes on 'em.

[ with his face smashed into the pillow, only about half his smile is visible. but it's definitely there. even as mick swats him and len gives him a gentle kick in return before, thankfully, keeping his toes to himself. ]

You kickin' me out of bed? Damn. That must be a new record. [ and yet, he makes no move to leave. in fact, he lets his eyes close and his body relax into the mattress. not the best one he's ever slept on, but it's sure as hell better than a lot of other places he's stayed the night.

silence reigns for a long moment. to the casual observer, it might look like leonard's passed out mid-conversation. at least until, with his eyes still closed, he speaks again. this time on a completely different tangent. ] I can't decide if this is closer to how I envisioned heaven or hell.

( heaven or hell? sounds like sara's cue.

this day has been closer to hell than sara had expected, and she's actually been to a vague approximation of actual hell before. this is domesticity hell, taking her right back to moving into her college dorm room with her mom and dad and sister in tow.

except for the fact that a beautiful alien superhero didn't break her key in the door of sara's dorm room, which happened to be the case on the sixth floor of alpha building. she'd kicked down her door — they were gonna have to fix it for her anyways — dropped what little possessions she'd brought with her, and set out to explore the city instead.

now, it's late, and she's beat, and sleeping on a couch in the middle of a common area until the morning sounds pretty unappealing. sara, resourceful as ever, does the logical thing: jimmies the lock to the maintenance room, looks through building logs until she finds a specific name — rory, m. — and makes her way to beta building's fifth floor. and picks another lock. and wanders through a dark, way-too-clean apartment until she finds the bedroom. oh, the perks of essentially being a sneaky goddamn ninja.

sara's sure as hell surprised to see not one, but two large figures crammed into the double bed through the dim light the blinds provide, but she guesses she shouldn't be. shaking her head, she reaches down to unlace her boots so she can kick them off, apparently undeterred and acting like breaking into someone's apartment is commonplace — for her, anyway. she knows it is for them. )

I can't believe you beat me to the punch.

For you or for me? [mick chuckles, giving leonard a playful shove for good measure. he doesn't do feelings, or complications, or sleepovers. it's less messy that way. but he makes zero effort to kick len out, choosing instead to focus on his steady breathing, in then out then in again.

he shuts his eyes, willing himself back toward slumber when len says something that throws him for a loop. mick lifts his head to peer at him, eyebrow quirked.]

Not sure. At least this time I'm not bored outta my skull.

[he's got more words to add, but he swears he hears boots thudding on his floor. then nothing. must be imagining shit. he thinks. but before long there's another familiar face. don't mind the irritation in his voice, sara. he's actually not that mad.]

Really? Twice in a night. This shithole has the worst security. [a beat passes, and mick's greeting sara with a wink.] Lance. Good to see you.

[ there's a retort resting on the tip of his tongue, but leonard swallows it back at the sound of boots. the nice relaxation thing he had is gone in a heartbeat, muscles tensing as he gets ready to move. just in case.

--not that he actually does move. not until sara wanders in. even then, it's only to lift his head off the pillow and squint at her, eyes a little glassy. ] Sara... [ he drawls, somehow managing to make her name sound like it has six extra syllables.

of all the people who could've been breaking in to mick's place, sara is the probably the one len's the most okay with. outside of his sister, anyway. though he doesn't manage to slip back into that half-asleep looseness he was in a moment ago, he does let go of the tenseness as he rolls over to better be able to look at the pair of them. ]

If you're going to join the party, you have to get rid of all the knives you've got on you.

You're no fun.

( it's said through a wry smile as she tugs off socks, lets her jacket fall from her shoulders and to the floor; with that gone, and the boots, that accounts for all of the knives. wait — nope, she forgot one tucked into the leg of her jeans, but she grabs that one and leaves it by her boots, too.

this probably should be weird, but it isn't. maybe it's their collective shared histories, of mismatched memories, of sacrifices, of ridiculous bar brawls in the middle of the 1970s. mick's winking at her and leonard's deliciously dragging out her name and sara decides, in this very moment: fuck it.

maybe she could've taken the couch, but there's something simultaneously terrible and appealing about the idea of sneaking her way between the two of them — not that there's actually much sneaking involved when it comes down to it, sara deciding to crawl right onto the bed and wedge her way between them, back of her head hitting the pillows (or, rather, the corners of both and the miniscule dip between them) as she lets out a relieved sigh. they're warm on either side of her — one side a little more than the other, Obviously — and it's easy to let herself relax against them, not really feeling a need to explain herself unless (until?) she's asked. )

[if sara feels weird about being watched by not one but two pairs of eyes, she's certainly not letting it show. it helps set him at ease, because this is decidedly not how he'd envisioned his night: in bed beside leonard snart and watching sara lance pluck hidden knives from her person.

they've joked about sara's knife collection before, but mick is sadly disappointed to find fewer hidden in the folds of her clothing.

sara settles between them without so much as a word. her body is warm — thank fuck — against him. mick throws an arm over her, loosely at her hip, until his fingertips prod len on the other end. it's not quite cuddling, but it's something.]

Together again. A killer, a klepto, and a pyro.

[ this isn't something he's used to. sacking out with someone else in the bed? sure. actually planning to cuddle someone through at least part of the night? not so much. but despite the faces len pulls as sara squishes between them and pushes him closer to the edge of the bed (his money is on either him or mick falling off at least once overnight) he's not all that uncomfortable with this.

sure, it could be a little cooler. but it's nice to be able to feel the heat radiating off sara. to feel mick's fingers brushing against him. to throw a leg over sara's, toes (that are decidedly warner now but still a bit chilly) nudging at mick yet again.

with a quiet sigh, leonard tilts his head until his forehead almost rests against the back of sara's head. ] You're gonna need a bigger bed. [ the cadence of his words make it clear he's quoting something. ] Hell, if all the apartments have beds this small, we're all gonna need bigger beds.

leonard snart ▸ ota

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