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

Some parts of the East Coast might have been freaking out about a hurricane, but there was no such madness going on in Fandom. Sure, it was a little hot out, with the sun shining and not much breeze happening, but all the milk and toilet paper on the island was safe, and that was important, right? Besides, once the new folks started learning about their new home, there'd be more than enough freaking out to go around.

The usual main attraction had been set up first: a large buffet of food and drinks had been laid out next to all the information the new arrivals would need, and then the blue and gold tables and chairs had been arranged across the rest of the lawn. Everything was just about done when the shuttle arrived, and it was time for a picnic once again.

[OCD is up! 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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Tara had filled out the form asking for a new roommate weeks before, but she'd almost forgotten about it by the time she got to the picnic. She blinked in confusion at the new name next to hers.

But it would be all right. If Natalie was mean or stupid or hated witches ... well, it kind of wouldn't be the worst thing in Tara's world right then.

Natalie wasn't stupid, was undecided on witches (having never met one before), and wouldn't get too mean for a few more years. She was, however, approaching the other girl now that she'd spotted the right name tag.

"Tara?" she asked, coming up to her. "I'm Natalie. Nat. Whichever. Guess we're roommates?"

[I'm sneaking pings from a meet-up, so SP is looove.]

"I ... guess so?" Tara said, trying for a smile. "I've been here a couple years, but I went home this summer. Are you totally new?"

"Fresh out of the portal," Natalie confirmed, like that was something she was completely used to. Hey, she was going to date someone with vegan superpowers in the future; portals fit into her worldview just fine, even if she hadn't used one before today. "I was still in Montreal about an hour and a half ago."

"Are you from there?" Tara asked, mildly interested. "We have a couple other Canadians. Not me, though. I'm from one of the boring parts of California."

"And, um, welcome to Fandom," she added.

"Thanks," Natalie replied, with a very brief, very faint smile. There was a pause after that. She didn't find much to say about being Canadian. "So... What should I expect from the dorms?"

Really, there wasn't a lot to say about it, unless Tara wanted to break into maple syrup jokes.

"It's kind of a basic room ," she said, trying to figure out what she would have wanted to know. "Beds, dressers, desk ... I used to have a cat but he's back with my folks now. People hang out in the common rooms a lot. Usually there's food there."

She wanted to bring Moxy back, but she figured Natalie got veto power on that one. She was also starting to realize why Natalie looked a little familiar.

And poor Natalie was going to be hearing about that a lot.

She nodded. "Sounds nice." Even if she was more than a little undecided about the whole communal living thing. "Why's your cat not here anymore?"

"I went home this summer because there was some family stuff going on," Tara said carefully. She wasn't lying, it was just that leading with a dead mom wasn't really her style. "After -- it was over, I decided to travel for a couple weeks. It would have just been mean to Mr. Moxy to bring him to a bunch of different places, you know?"

She pushed her hair behind her ears. "Do you like cats?"

"I don't dislike cats," Natalie offered. "I think they're cool." And pretty and independent, which were admirable qualities in her book. "So, if you wanna bring him back, I don't mind."

"I'll talk to my dad about sending him this way. He's a sweetheart," Tara promised. "A little grouchy about other animals, but he likes people fine."

She tilted her head, then: "So -- is there anything I can tell you about the school, or about me, or do you just want to settle in?"

Natalie shrugged, giving Tara another brief kind-of-a-smile. She seemed nice enough, and the last thing Natalie needed was an annoying roommate.

"I have a school-assigned big brother," she said, even if the concept still felt weird. "And we're gonna be sharing a space so we'll probably find out enough about each other that way, so... I'll see you later?"

"See you," Tara agreed, with a matching brief smile.

Natalie seemed fine, and they'd get plenty of time together once they were both settled in. Or settled back in.

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

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