fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

Entry tags:

!event: welcome picnic

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

The recent cold front had been a welcome weather pattern as far as Zoe was concerned, and she was very grateful for how things had turned out today - it was sunny and breezy, and just cool enough that no one would pass out from heat exhaustion. Hopefully.

Beneath the blue and gold streamers and balloons, tables had been set up with drinks and food, including an entire table of ~~moddable~~ different ice cream flavors. As always, there was a stack of nametags set down next two signs: one listing the Big Sibling/Little Sibling pairings, and one listing rooms and roommates for the new students.

[OCD is up! Have at it! This is part one of the picnic, specifically for meeting siblings, roommates, and teachers. The rest of the picnic is happening here and here, in an effort to keep browsers from breaking for as long as possible. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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"Oh a hug! See, I think that was in my jacket. I'll have to go back for it later." John was just going to keep this going as long as he could. Annoying her was part of the fun of life.

Not really annoyed, she gave him one of those annoyed looks anyway. "You're getting a hug now. Deal with it," she said, moving to do so. "It's not jacket weather anyway." This might not be true, but she did not care.

"Hey, hey, hey!" John said, putting his hands up and backing away. "Hands off the staff members. We can't go giving the other young girls ideas."

The annoyed look was more real this time. "Other young girls?" she repeated, eyebrow raised.

"You know, my students?" John repeated like it should be obvious he didn't want to be that guy.

"I'm not really a student anymore," she pointed out, wondering if she should be hurt by this. She was kind of leaning toward it.

"You kind of still are," John told her. "I don't want to confuse anyone my first day here as an actual, official employee."

"No, I'm not," she said slowly. "I graduated, I live in town, I don't go to classes. It's not like I'm asking you to throw me down on the lawn and make out with me."

John's eyebrows threatened his hairline at that height. "You live in town?" Yeah, he was ignoring the rest of what she said.

"Yeah," she said with a shrug meant to downplay that she actually was liking it so far. "I moved into MCA a couple days ago."

"You got an apartment?" John was kind of busy staring at her seemingly enjoying this.

"Yeah," she repeated, and finally had to ask, "Why are you staring?"

The staring didn't stop. "Uh, call me crazy, but I seem to have missed the part where you decided to stay in Fandom to the point of needing an apartment."

John vaguely recalled two consecutive years followed by a lot of visits over the last eleven where she mostly hated the island and couldn't wait to be done with it. On top of that he knew Jaina's calling and its import to the lives of many people so...yeah, he was at a loss here.

"I told you I was thinking about it. I just followed through," Jaina explained. She was realizing now just how much explaining she'd have to be doing. "I don't feel done here yet, so I'm sticking around till I do. But they're just going to kick me out in two months anyway if I stay in the dorms, and considering the age difference between me and the students now and the fact that I kind of feel like I've outgrown cabin time, I'd rather do it in my own place."

John was just now realizing how long he'd been away. He'd thought thins wouldn't have changed, but it was clear they had.

"That's a lot of growing for someone so short," he replied, trying to keep a good humor about this even though he was still frowning and feeling kind of disappointed by this somehow.

"Growing comes with age and maturity," Jaina said. "It's just too bad I still need that stool. Why are you still frowning?" Call her worried.

"I'm curious what there is for you to do here," John answered, looking concerned because seriously, there were things he was missing doing and would jump at the chance to do, but he didn't have the luxury of a choice.

"The exact same thing I've been doing for the last few years. I still make trips home for work, I'm still involved in things that require my attention. The only thing that's changed is my address," Jaina told him. "Look, I know it's something people didn't expect from me, and I don't expect anyone to understand it. I'm just still figuring out some things, and as annoying as this place is, it's proven to be a good place for me to do that."

Figuring things out. John could understand that. He'd had to go to that mental place a few times just since being away from Fandom. Hell, once spurred on by a short visit to the island.

"...this is probably not the place for us to have this conversation," he realized. "But I get it, and it'd probably be good for us both."

"Right," she said, and it was becoming clear that maybe she hadn't thought things through all the way. She'd thought he'd just be happy to be here and be here with her and that would be that. It didn't make her feel great, but she wasn't planning on showing that. "Does that mean I still go without a hug?"

"It does," he nodded. "Figuring things out is a lot easier without physical contact from people who remind you of when life was easy. Trust me." Just seeing her at one of these picnics had him flashing back to the shirtless days of old.

Now she looked confused and wondering if he'd broken up with her when she wasn't looking or something. "Wait... what do you think me figuring things out means? Because it has nothing to do with you."

She was so young in some ways. "I'm aware it has nothing to do me," John told her kindly. "I'm also aware that where I am in life, it kinda should. From the way we've barely been talking the last few...years? Months for you, it makes sense to take a step back. I'm kind of stuck and you're in a place I didn't expect." She was getting honesty whether or not she wanted to hear it.

Wow. She hadn't expected that one. In fact, right up until the denied hug, she'd been excited to see him. This didn't even sound like him. And considering the things she'd been through in the last full year because of his time issues and marriage/divorce and more time issues and job, it kind of felt like he was taking the first chance he had to stick a knife in her gut when she'd stuck with him through everything.

"So we what, go back just to dating or something like none of this has happened?" she asked, voice flat.

If she was going through her second breakup with him in a year...

"Like none of what has happened?" John asked, getting confused about why she was suddenly pissed. "It's been a crazy few years away, Jaina. I'm not sure I follow."

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

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