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

[bigdamnprincipal]

There were plenty of tables and chairs scattered around the lawn for anyone who wanted to sit down once they'd had their fill of the buffet, or to recover from starting to find out what this place was all about. No one would judge the need to take a mental breather.

Some of the tables were out in the open, for those who weren't allergic to the sun, and some of the tables were in the shade, or far from the rest of the crowd. Wherever people decided to rest, there was space enough for everyone.

[OCD is up! This is the post for general mingling! Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here! Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

Comments

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Of course he did," Peter muttered.

He and Ender might have been near to squared when the guy left - seeing him pop up again was hitting several of Peter's buttons.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced over. "And of course that's all you hear."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"It's just typical," Peter said. "This was supposed to be my two years of school free of him - you know, we'd host him graciously the two times he's invited to come over and otherwise he doesn't bother us anymore. But of course brother dearest just can't let that happen..."

Peter, you're ranting.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

He was. Natalie resisted the urge to sigh and roll her eyes. "Mm hmm."

Let him rant if he wanted to. If nothing else, it distracted her from her own annoyance (and subtle grief, too, probably) at Jace leaving.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"--But if I can play this right I could get some intelligence on the near future," Peter finished thoughtfully, roughly five minutes after he'd started. "Hm..."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie even actually listened to most of it, head slightly tilted to the side. Sometimes it was nice to focus on someone else's issues for a second.

"Do you really think you could get anything useful?" she wondered, just as mildly as before.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"If previous experience serves, it's a lot like trying to get into an impregnable vault," Peter admitted. "But hey, I just got more time to figure out the combination."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"Because you need more lighthearted hobbies."

Some understated snark, there.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Hobbies are for bored teenage vagrants," Peter said.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie considered exaggerating looking offended. Then chose not to. "You just called me a vagrant."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Only if you choose to be offended by it," Peter noted idly. "Hobbies, essential life skills, it's a matter of semantics."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"There are no places that I know of where being able to play the piano is an essential life skill," Natalie retorted. But mildly. She didn't feel like emoting much today. "Even semantic stretches have their limits."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Kid, that just means you aren't stretching hard enough," Peter said. "Or is it smart enough?"

If Peter was picking up on her being a little off, it was only on a subconscious level.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"In any case," Natalie replied, brushing her bangs away from her eyes with a few fingertips, "not an essential life skill. Although semantic acrobatics might count as one."

A topic she found fascinating in general. Just not maybe today.

"Did you just call me 'kid'?"

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Did I?" Peter asked.

Yes, he did.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"You did."

He had.

"Don't."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

Peter heaved a put-upon sigh. "Fine, fine," he said, "Because you're asking so nicely."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"No one wants to be condescended at," she replied mildly. (As if there was any other way.) "Especially by people who are technically younger."

'Technically' because his line of work made it hard and weird to think of him as younger than her in any way.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Who said anything about condescending?" asked Peter, who was pretty much always condescending anyway. "So. Spot anyone exciting at your penultimate newbie picnic?"

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie suddenly found herself rather sharply wanting to inform him how unlikely he was to spot condescension when it wasn't targeted at him. But that lasted all of a second, and told her everything she needed to know about her own mood.

She sighed before replying. "No. But it's a pretty small batch of newbies, too. You?"

Not counting Ender.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"Nothing terribly interesting outside of my brother and his hanger-on," Peter said, tapping his phone against his pants. "I'm disappointed, frankly. We didn't even get anyone who had a funny hair color or something."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"I'd dye my hair, but I'm not that committed to entertaining you." She was not at all committed to entertaining him. "Or conveying teenage angst through my hair, either."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

"...Conveying angst through your hair?"

Yeah. Peter'd be side-eyeing you now.

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[whenshewasnice]

"What?" she asked, barely raising an eyebrow at his side-eyeing. "I'm pretty sure that's a cliché thing."

Re: Get Your Mingle On! [Summer 2013-1]

[lockestheway]

Remember who you were talking to, Natalie.

"Is it?" he said. "I've never noticed."