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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oh wait. right. new apartment. empty fridge. goddamnit. he frowns into the light of the fridge and shuts it dejectedly, returning to the living room empty handed.
obviously the next best thing to do is sprawl across the length of the couch, a little too short for his legs to stretch out all the way, one knee bent and the other leg draping off the side. head at the end next to kate, he tilts his chin up to look at her better. ) Not bad. Not as epic as my couch back at home, but it'll do the job.
( you know, the couch that's probably older than even he is, probably reeks of weed and spilled booze, that will occasionally finds himself glued to for months at a time. that one.
oh, you thought you were sleeping on the couch, kate? wrong. )
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Glancing down, Kate leans back, elbow digging into the back of the couch to keep her upright, legs straddling the armrest, one thigh skirting probably a bit too close to Will's head as she gets comfortable above him. )
And where'm I sleeping?
( Cause she had planned the couch. )
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too close? not close enough.will furrows his brow at the question, lets out a huff of incredulous laughter, because — he thought it'd be pretty obvious. ) Well, the bed. ( there's an unspoken duh. she's a guest in his apartment; asshole as he may be, he still knows better than to make someone slum it on a couch. besides, couches are kind of His Thing.
it's fine. everything's fine. ) Lucky for you, they even pre-made the bed and I didn't bother wrecking it yet.
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More to the point, though: )
Want me in your bed?
( Obviously we need to make everything sound a little worse than it is, right? )
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her question brings forth a snort, a small roll of his eyes. but maybe it's a valid question, which the answer to is obviously a resounding yes — considering there's no way in hell he's letting her sleep on the couch.
except maybe there are other implications there, too. maybe there isn't. it's not his fault that they're a few feet from the aforementioned bed; it clouds his judgment. )
Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, would it?
goes to hell
And there are other thoughts there, ones that flit in and out and have for all too long now, ones that she tried to push away when Eudio announced the closure of its system because it seemed like that was it. She'd never see anyone from there again, and there was no more point entertaining the ideas that came along.
That they're both here, now, stuck in his place for the night... Maybe she's just crazy. Reading too much into it. It's one thing to pick up someone in a bar, or stumble into something with a person you then hated, but she likes Will. Thinks he could be a friend, even. And that's a little different. Everything's in that delicate, glass-on-the-edge stage of could ruin things with one wrong breath.
This could be a mistake. )
Can get in a comfortable position anywhere.
( Yeah, if there weren't implications in her voice before, there are now, in the way her tone almost purrs and a smirk flashes across her lips. )
Floor, shower-
( And, just because if she's going to go for this, she may as well go all the way, Kate shifts off the arm of the couch, steps over and straddles Will instead. )
-Couch.
dives into hell after u
except will's not surprised, which is probably the most surprising thing of all.
no, this feels — right. like it was bound to happen eventually. a relief at not having to pussyfoot around the tension will's forced himself to write off as wishful thinking, pretended he wasn't aware of for the sake of this vague friendship between the two of then.
kate settles on top of him with ease, thighs wrapped around his, and his lips quirk up into a lazy smirk, will's hands moving to graze over stretchy fabric, fingers gliding up her thighs and back down again, rhythmic, slow, only a hint of cautiousness. )
I've always dug the couch.
it's so warm and cozy here
Kate inhales sharply, fingertips sliding their way up Will's torso, coming to a light, near-delicate stop at his chest. It'd be easier if there were alcohol involved, where there's a convenient, bottle-shaped excuse for the loss of control and the way her heartbeat jitters, all too light in her chest. But what's done is done, and the thought of taking back the last seconds doesn't even cross her mind. Everything that's been in the air since they met, that invisible weight lying heavy just behind each word and glance, finally feels as though it has a name. Feels tangible when Kate's thighs squeeze around his just a little as she leans forward, hands gliding from chest to neck and jawline when her lips catch Will's in a firm kiss, one ignoring pangs of guilt and all previous uncertainty. Drunk on the mood and the oft-forgotten warmth of another's skin, the velvet caress of lips; sensations all too frequently forgotten in thoughtless, tequila-fueled trysts, ones that set nerves alight down the length of her spine.
Perhaps she doesn't deserve this, but it beckons to her like the call of winding paths and sunrises on the rooftops, impossible to resist. )
i'm drowning in hellfire
but then there's kate's hands smoothing over his worn t-shirt, along the curve of his neck, up along his jaw, and he feels like he's not even fucking breathing for a second. he wants this. wants kate. wants to get the fuck over his shit and live the rest of his damn life. if he was drunk, this would be a hell of a lot easier.
and then, before will knows it, kate kisses him, lips soft and insistent against his and — fuck it. he's not fucking this up. he's not. there's that millisecond of uncertainty, and then will's lips kiss her back with an almost surprising amount of fervor, all hesitancy gone straight to hell, his hands moving to grip her hips, fingers pressing into the stretchy fabric of the waistband of her pants.
this isn't how will ever pictured this going down — if it ever happened, which always felt like some twisted ass wishful thinking — but he doesn't give a shit. if it's wrong of him to want this, to want someone to want him just because, then screw it. he's more than happy to be wrong. )
what a lovely way to go
She doesn't deserve for this to be the way she can stop being a failure, but it's what she's been given. Her feelings on the issue, ultimately, don't matter. Only results.
And right now, she's another step closer to that result, her mind given over to Will's hands on her hips, the press of fabric and fingertips against bones dragging out the roll of her hips down against him, slow and deliberate as her teeth graze his lower lip and her nails - short and un-maintained as they are - run a slow path across his throat. More a tease than anything else, small movements for the purpose of drawing things out even as hunger stirs deep in her belly, hot and heady - something she's wanted for long enough, thought about in drawn out silences when they feel just a bit too heavy, too tense to be normal. Something that almost seems to require savouring as it happens, as though doing otherwise will let it slip through her fingers. )
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will has no real incentive — wish, whatever — here, just some vague desire to not be back at home and stuck planted on his couch. there's nothing that requires any urgency, no dire straits befalling him or anyone he cares about. maybe that's the hardest thing to grapple with, the fact that he's just here to live his life with no real expectations. this is all on him.
the deliberate roll of her hips against his, fingers pressing harder against her, a low sound escaping him, kicks that worry and the rest of them straight to hell.
there's no need to rush this, a moment that's now so clearly something they've both had pent up inside of them for a shitload of time. he thinks he might be content to have her kiss him like this for the rest of the night and then some, but — there's still the part of him that gets a little needy, a little desperate for contact, at times like these. his hand's don't stay still at her hips for very long, grazing up over the exposed skin of her sides beneath the unzipped hoodie that hangs loosely from her body, fingertips bumping against the band of her sports bra as his lips keep chasing more kisses from her. )
i'm so sorry for this garbage fire
(There's something intoxicating in that sort of control, the simple ability to pull noise and movement from another, that she can never quite get enough of.)
Then there's his fingers against the elastic at her ribs, brushing just below the curve of her breast, all too close to the heavy thrum of her heart. And whether it's bad habit or being drunk off the thrill of being wanted, who knows, but Kate finds his wrists with sudden, nearly too-quick, movement and tugs them away, pushing to pin Will's hands down on the couch. )
Ah-
( A smirk playing on her lips as she pulls back enough to look down at him. Not yet. )
Patience.
i love it so... much.........
despite what sounds like a complaint, that was — really fucking hot, makes the desire tightly wound in his gut twist even more. sure, will likes to take the initiative and do what he wants, but there's something super fucking intoxicating about relinquishing his control to somebody else, letting them do as they please with him to make themselves feel good. it's a heady feeling, makes him feel a little punch drunk without a taste of alcohol or a whiff of drugs.
his pupils are huge when will looks up at kate, looking entirely too pleased with herself and confident as hell, and goddamnit, it just makes him want her even more. his breathing's quick, matching the rapid thumping of his heart in his chest, and his lips still tingle, kiss-swollen, when he admits, ) I've always been shitty at being patient. ( a pause, so he can swallow hard, try to get his shit together for a second. ) Guess you're gonna have to keep showing me how.
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Her hands slowly uncurl from around his wrists, fingertips snaking lazily down his arms and across his collarbone, resting at the base of his neck. )
Stay still, then.
( In charge, there's something more relaxed about her. Confident in a different way to normal as she dips down, presses her lips to the side of Will's neck, drawing out a trail of kisses to his jawline. Hand slipping from his throat down his chest, curling into the edge of his shirt, teasing it up around his waist before her fingers slip under, tracing patterns over bare skin. )
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stay still, then. right. stay still. that's totally a thing that will can do. totally a thing that will has no difficulties obeying — even though he totally sucks at staying still and fails miserably.
it's hard not to fail when her mouth, warm and wet, presses against the sensitive skin just below his jawline, making him tip his chin to the side with a small groan to provide more skin for her lips to kiss. it's hard not to fail when her palm slips beneath the worn fabric of his shirt, and he inhales sharply beneath her touch. it's been way too fucking long since someone's touched him even remotely like this, and god, he's fucking missed it. )
How am I doing?
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(Forget about that part of you that says not to enjoy it. Just forget about it.) )
Seen worse.
( She breathes her words out against his lips, slow to initiate another kiss, leaning fully on top of him this time, rather than hovering lightly above. Hips begin to shift again, building up a slow, steady rhythm against his. The desire for more mixed with the need to draw things out, her hips slowly lifting a too-long moment later as the hand on his waistband hovers at buttons, an unsaid question - Do you want more? )
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her movements are all so slow, so purposeful, that it's practically making his head spin with each deliberate grind of her hips against his, his eyes closing, lycra stretching against hard denim as she moves.
but then she stops, and the absence of her weight and warmth on top of him makes him blink his eyes right back open so he can glance back down at her, first at her hand at the front of his jeans, then meeting her gaze. his response to her unspoken question, his unabashed desire for her, feels so obvious that it's got him super fucking tongue-tied. )
Kate — ( it's about all he can manage, sounds as much like a plea as anything. )
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It takes her brain a moment to catch up with the gasp of her name as they come apart, fingers sliding under denim fabric, a moment of fiddling before it's undone and her hand skips to the next. )
Yes? ( Okay, now she's just being an asshole. Enjoying the power trip just a little too much, always seeking these moments when it seems that so much of her life has been given over to circumstances outside of her control. Here and now, it all belongs to her, like she could tell Will to stand up and jump and he probably would. Heat stirs through her body, the feel of his lips still lingering on hers as her tongue trails over her lower lip, hungry for more in her own way, each flick of her fingers undoing his jeans faster than the last. )
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he does, however, very much give a shit about the slow drag of his zipper, how agonizingly long it's taking, like he's suddenly living in fucking slow motion. kate knows what she's doing, and it's working.
good thing he sucks at listening as much as he sucks at being patient. his hands reach forward again, graze just above her knees and higher as his reach allows. her mouth feels about a million agonizing miles away and he just — needs to touch her. needs the closeness that he so ridiculously, desperately craves, needs to give in to the desire knotting inside of his gut, so often ignored or pushed to the side in favor of apathy and nothingness that it feels like it burns a hundred degrees warmer here and now. ) Fuck — you're driving me crazy —
( like that much wasn't evident already. )
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Clothes. Off. Now.
( She broke before this, really, when she started undoing that button and the zipper, but now her voice is a raw nerve, a command snarled as she hops off his lap and curls fingers into his shirt, urging Will to stand the fuck up and follow orders.
She's done with the cat and mouse, the teasing and waiting. It's nothing or everything, and right now, she's the latter. )
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the shirt's the first thing to go, all but ripped over his head in haste, wide pupils basically staring at kate the whole while 'cause holy fuck does he want her and this is really, actually fucking happening and he can't even seem to move as fast as he wants to be moving right now. the shoes are next to go, kicked off in the direction of who-fucking-knows-where, considering it's his first night in this apartment and he's barely spent any considerable amount of time here yet. which ... if will's lucky, he might get the opportunity to sooner than he thinks.
will's definitely lucky. definitely. his jeans, undone, hang low on his waist as he can't help but take the step between them, hands grabbing her hips and pulling her flush against him, stealing another needy kiss 'cause fuck it, he can. his jeans pool around his ankles as his hips flex, just stretched black boxer briefs pressed against her now. now that they're standing, he really realizes how much taller he is than her — the way he has to lean to kiss her — but kate carries herself, carries this situation they've found themselves in, like a person twice his size.
fuck, he's so hopelessly weak for someone who knows exactly what they want and gets it. even though he thinks he knows the answer already, will can't help but murmur against her lips, ) Are you gonna ride me? ( maybe if he ever shuts up and lays the fuck back down. )
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Never let them take you by surprise, or you're dead.
This isn't a surprise, it's been all but inevitable since they were in Eudio, taking glances at each other which lingered just a little too long. Too many moments which, now, seem like obvious chances bypassed out of guilt or some misguided attempt to stay safe. Somewhere, something in her knew it would come to this. )
Can't in clothes.
( Her words are quiet, nearly as raw as the order a moment ago, tinted deep with lust and light amusement. )
Do somethin' about that.
( An order that doesn't sound as harsh as the last one, one last obstacle to do away with.
... You can't deny a girl one last piece of fun, right? )
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will's woefully out of his fucking element here, too used to years and years of pseudo-symbiotic living with the girl he thought was the love of his life, the ease of being with her, of knowing when silly make out sessions on the couch were turning into something more by the way nails suddenly pressed into his shoulder blades, the occasional pull of teeth against lip, the unsubtle needy tug at the hem of his shirt. he knows — knew? — every part of her, every little thing that made her tick.
this is new and admittedly a little terrifying but holy shit does it send a wave of delicious excitement through him. maybe he'll be an idiot about it or maybe he'll suck but with the way things are going, he gets the feeling that kate will be more than happy to give him an earful if that happens.
there's a breath of shaky laughter, eyes diverting downwards for a moment, almost sheepishly. ) Right. ( it's a weird moment of vulnerability for the dude who typically doesn't give a shit, but like — fuck it, right? this is what they're all here for in the end.
hands let go of kate's hips to move to his own, thumbs looping in the waistband of his underwear so he can yank them down, step out of them, quick to loop his hand around kate's wrist so he can tug her back towards the couch with him. )
🍆🐷
Shit-
( The word's a breath, something remembered at the last moment that stops her sliding into his lap immediately. )
You got a condom?
( She's a lot of things, especially when caught up in the moment, but certain discussions should happen, no matter what. Even if every part of her body is aching to move faster. )
this is completely why and how he got his gf pregnant and ruined his own life 💀
gawks so much that it takes him a second to start bringing himself out of the needy stupor he's found himself in, realize that she's not just letting out an expletive he's pretty much internalizing this whole time, because shit, is she hot, and shit, does he want her to ride him, and —
kate's asking a question. one that's probably pretty important, and he squeezes his eyes shut for a second like that might bring him out of this heady daze. ) No, ( the short answer. not a very helpful one. )
I mean — uhh, maybe ... maybe, over in my wallet. Fuck. ( shit fuck goddamnit is like an endless mantra in his head, on a loop with jesus fuck i want you so bad. he never worried about this shit in eudio — even when he was regularly getting laid, which was like eighty years ago and something he doesn't want to be thinking about right now — 'cause that place was one big fuckfest and they always promised that stds weren't a thing and that you couldn't get pregnant unless you wanted to, as if that even made any kind of sense. christ, what a disaster.
there's a part of him that wants to tell her fuck it, it's fine, they'll be careful, they're desperate, whatever — and then there's a newfound part of him that tells him that maybe he should keep his fucking mouth shut. )
well done, child.
facepalms
Then he put his thingie in my you-know-what and we did it for the first time.
stares into the camera like i'm on the office
smiles at
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