fandomhigh | Cryptozoology 101, The Park

Cryptozoology 101, The Park

Having ~~handwavily~~ sent out notes, e-mail, etc. to the class members, Kenzi was at the pond early with notebooks for everyone, and disposable cameras. "Trick's... somewhere. Or hungover. Or both. So! I'm taking over. Everybody, grab some notebooks, some cameras, or your camera phones, spread out, wander around the island. You're looking for fae animals, and trying to classify them."

"Or, you know, you're trying to take photos of anything else interesting and make it sound like classwork. Go to it!"

[apologies that this is up late; my forgetting]

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Sparkle stared at his camera for a while. Stared at it good and long and hard.

And then he pocketed it, wondering how much he could sell the thing for. Maybe enough to get himself an ice cream or something. Besides, did they even have cows on the island?

"Probably worth about five bucks," Toby offered idly, slanting a glance Sparkle's way.

"Less if I take it out of the box," Sparkle agreed. And then blinked and glanced Toby's way. "You didn't just watch me pocket that, did you? I was going to just use it later."

No, he totally wasn't.

"Uh huh," Toby said, his eyes widening comically. "Of course you were." He believed you not at all, Sparkle.

But look at Sparkle! He was the very epitome of honesty! A vision of truth in ripped second-hand jeans!

"Well, even if I was going to sell it, the school should thank me for it. Developing the film in these things costs more than the damn camera."

See? He was truly a philanthropist.

"That concerned for the school's budget, huh?" Toby grinned. "Maybe you should use that as your platform and run for Student Council in September."

"First thing I'd do is abolish camping," Sparkle decided, a little grin of his own crossing his face. "And then maybe get them to change the recipe for the macaroni in the cafeteria. It isn't supposed to bounce like that."

Vote Sparkle if you prefer macaroni that splats.

"And how did such a fine, upstanding citizen such as yourself find out about this whole bouncing issue?" Toby had to wonder.

"I didn't pick it up piece by piece and throw it, if that's what you're insinuating," Sparkle sniffed, sticking his nose into the air.

He totally had.

"Would I insinuate such a thing?" Toby asked.

Yes, yes he would.

Toby. Toby you jerk, Toby.

"Good question," Sparkle replied, smirking. "I barely even know you. So, tell me, would you insinuate such a thing?"

"Actually?" Toby pretended to think it over, tapping his chin. "Yes. I would."

"And see? Right there? Honesty! And there is like nothing I respect more than honesty. God, that's the trouble with the world, isn't it? That nobody out there could be straight-faced honest even if you paid them to be?"

Take Sparkle, for example! He was a pathological liar, so long as it amused him to be.

"Yourself included?" Toby couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Well, duh," Sparkle replied. "If someone is paying me to be honest, you know what they really want is a good story. Embellishments are more fun anyhow."

And they constantly saved his ass!

"A good embellishment can get you out of any number of sticky situations," Toby said knowingly.

...Not that he'd ever found the same thing himself. Really.

"Speaking from experience, there?"

Sparkle was no mind-reader, true, but he did remember Toby mentioning life on the streets in Toronto. He could make a few educated guesses from there.

Toby nodded. "Product of Ontario's fabulous foster care system, right here," he said, giving a little bow. "Proper bullshitting is a survival skill."

"Tell me about it," Sparkle snorted, bowing right on back. "What are the odds in a place like this, anyhow? Ontario just decide there were too many of us and they needed to ship us all down to America to get us out of their hair, or what?"

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised?" Toby said with a roll of his eyes. "Although for me personally, coming here was more of a happy accident than anything else. By the time my, um, case worker," if one used the term 'case worker' a bit loosely, "found me, he convinced... whoever you convince of these things back home I was better off here anyway."

"Yeah, it didn't really take much for Lewis to pull the right strings to get me down here."

And Sparkle wasn't even trying to hide the weird mix of adoration and betrayal in his voice as he mentioned Lewis, there.

"It's like they want us to defect to America or something. Thanks a bunch, Home and Native Land."

Clearly, Canada was a jerk.

"Well, depending on who you ask, Toronto's about as close to an American city as Canada gets already," Toby said with a snort. "So I guess it's not much of a stretch. Or something."

"Or something," Sparkle agreed, shaking his head. "Our money looks better, though."

For all the money that Sparkle ever had in his life. Really, now.

"And metric is way better than... inches and stuff."

Imperial, Sparkle.

"Right?" Toby rolled his eyes. "It makes no sense! Shipped off here or not, I reserve the right to make fun of Americans for being weird."

"They don't even put sugar into their Coke. What the hell kind of place doesn't put sugar in their Coke?"

A wrong one. That was what kind.

"Being here just means we know all the things they're doing wrong."

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Cryptozoology 101, The Park

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