Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

[bigdamnprincipal]

Oh look, there were tables and chairs over here too, away from all the informational stuff. Enjoy the food!

[WAIT FOR THE OCD PLEASE. OCD IS UP. This is the FIRST post for general mingling. Please use this post first, if your browser can handle the comment load. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are here and there is more room for mingling here.]

Comments

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal had tried to quit smoking; he had even, for the most part, succeeded, because it wasn't as if he did it because like liked it. In fact, he kind of hated it, but there were a lot of people here and he hadn't been in a socializing situation this...normal in a while. It made him nervous and it made his fingers itch with a feeling inseparable from the Unobtainable Object and his mouth fill with that taste inseparable from her, and he twitched nervously. He ate too much food to substitute this feeling, looking around somewhat shyly at everyone else while trying to look like he wasn't feeling shy or nervous at all.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I feel like escaping," Ned muttered from just behind Cal, hands tucked into his pockets and eyes staring wide at everything going on around him. "There are a lot of people here."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal hoped that he managed to turn what started out as kind of a jump at someone seeming to talk to him from behind into a slight, eased chuckle convincingly enough, giving the other a guy a slight smile. "A little harder to escape an island," he commented back. "But I'm kinda with you there."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Could go by boat," Ned suggested, looking around for...a boat. He figured out pretty fast that he wouldn't find a boat in the middle of a park but that didn't stop him from looking. "There aren't any boats in the park and I'm not a good swimmer."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Despite himself, Cal grinned a bit at that. It took the edge of his nerves quite a bit to realize that, hey, there might actually be someone here even more nervous about being here than he was. "My family tends to be bad with both escaping and water," he said, "so I know I'm definitely stuck."

"I'm Cal," he added, introducing himself. No handshake this time, just short, masculine jerk of his chin upward, although e did it mostly because he wasn't sure he'd want to see what would happen if either him or the other guy actually took their nervous hands out from their pockets or away from the food.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"People tend to want to escape me," Ned realized, frowning briefly at that before shaking it off. That was in the past, far away, and he really didn't want to depress himself yet. "I'm Ned. New, if you couldn't tell. It's not my first picnic though. I have done that before."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal eyed Ned for a moment; it was a little bit astounding and kind of marvelous that there might actually be someone more depressed in his situation than he was, to make him feel better just by proxy and offhand comments. He grinned again. "Yeah, me too. New to this place, not to picnics. From Michigan, originally. You?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Coeur d'Coeurs," Ned answered after a moment. He'd almost said North Thrush but he wasn't really from there, was he? He'd just been left here by his father. "It's a...small village. Far away from here, I think. I'm not good with directions. I've never been to Michigan either. So, I'm...new to Michigan too."

Ned had a talent for talking, you see. Except how he didn't.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Coeur d'Coeurs?" Cal asked, definitely not recognizing the name. "Is that...French or something?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[intraspective]

Awwww. He was so totally nervous.

Ino bounced over to him and beamed. "Hi! New here?" Obviously, clearly, but shhhh, she was excited today.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

...Wow. She was...chipper.

"Uh, yeah," Cal said, eying the hyper girl a little with a look caught somewhere between being amused and being utterly confused as to why anyone would ever bother talking to him. "I'm Cal. Hi."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[intraspective]

She grinned up at him. "Ino! It's nice to meet you! What do you think so far?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal really didn't feel like he'd been here long enough yet to really form an opinion. That, and there was this grinning, little, blonde girl talking to him. You'd think someone like Cal would have a bit of an easier time demystifying the fairer sex, but...no. They confused him so much and definitely didn't help with his nervousness.

"Um...the food's good?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[intraspective]

"It is," she agreed, "anyone told you 'bout the weirdness 'round here yet?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"A bit assumingly as sibling thread heads that direction, la," Cal shifted a little again. "Yeah."

None of which was quite as weird to Cal as this. Summer talking to him made sense because she had to, since she was his Big Sibling. But Ino was just...talking to him. For the sake of talking to him. And that was pretty bizarre, for him.

"A bit."

God, he wanted to smoke so badly right now. So, so badly.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[intraspective]

Ino liked talking to people! New people day was totally up there on her list of favourite days.

She fixed him with bright eyes. "You don't talk much do you?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

What was her first clue there? Cal shrugged. "Not...not really."

After a second where his eyebrows frowned, he added, "Sorry?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[ashockingbitch]

Jenny could identify 'in need of a nic fix' from a thousand paces. Her people! So she sidled up to New Pretty Boy and said, "You're new. I'm Jenny."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

He blamed the little snort that the abrupt greeting pulled out of him entirely on his nervousness.

"Actually," he managed to get out a joke, which surprised him, "name's Cal. Not new."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[ashockingbitch]

"Cal, right. Welcome to Fandom High, in the town of Fandom, on Fandom Island. Greece." Jenny took her pack of Silk Cuts from her pocket, tapped out a cigarette, and casually lit it with her fingertip. "We're all a bit mad here," she mumbled around the cig.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal was much, much to distracted by the fact that there was a cigarette and, despite himself, he was already longingly fixating on it and the lips it rested between to notice or wonder exactly how she managed to light it. He wondered if she'd done it on purpose. They always seemed to do it on purpose.

He shook his head a little.

"Did I catch a Greece in there?"

Not that he had any reason to wonder about the Greece or anything.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[ashockingbitch]

"Right across the causeway," Jenny confirmed, gesturing with her cig. "Used to be Virginia, but then the island bounced."

It hadn't exactly been on purpose, but then it hadn't exactly not been on purpose, either.

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal's eyes were locked on any movements of the cigarette. He couldn't help it. But it was better that Jenny was gesturing with it and having him watch that than just focusing on her mouth the whole time.

"You're kidding."

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[ashockingbitch]

Jenny took a long, loving drag off her cigarette. "I never kid about hot Greeks in skimpy bathing suits. I'm sorry, do you fancy a light?"

Re: General Mingling (Summer 2008)

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Uhhhh..."

And this was the moment when Cal Stephanides proved that he really has a willpower of steel.

"No, thanks. I...I shouldn't."

There was the nice distraction of thinking of hot Greeks in skimpy bathing suits, although he had a feeling that his picture of them and Jenny's were probably different.

Actually...he was having trouble picturing it.

"Uh, have you actually...met many Greeks?" he asked. "I mean, with some exceptions, of course, we don't tend to be the...most attractive race, really. Not overall. You have a thing for hairy men, maybe?"

Or hairy women.

He still had nightmares about waxing, which were ironic. Now that he wanted facial hair, he couldn't seem to fill any in very well.