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

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!event: welcome picnic

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

It was a new year, and with the new year came the new spring term, and Fandom High was all set to welcome its new students, along with those just returning from holiday trips home. It was a familiar setting for the latter bunch: there was the requisite bonfire, with tables and chairs scattered around it, as well as the buffet table with ~~moddable~~ warm food and drinks.

And of course, name tags and lists of Big and Little Siblings as well as roommates. Yep, the weather was okay (if snowy) for early January, and Fandom was all ready to celebrate the start of a new term.

[OCD up! This is part one of the picnic, specifically for meeting siblings, roommates, and teachers. The rest of the picnic is happening here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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McCoy was here; he was alive, but damnit, he was definitely missing at least a few atoms from the portal over. Who in their right mind looked at a human body and said "hey, that looks like something I should poof through some quantum doohicky". Whatever happened to driving somewhere in a nice, grounded car? Or walking. Walking was nice.

(Don't tell him how many miles San Francisco is from Fandom. Logic will rustle him.)

He was in the teacher area, trying to look welcoming while also grumbling about travel through space-time.

That space-time travel was definitely something to get used to, yes. Jono could even sympathize! Though, at this particular moment, he was mostly going to just swing by to introduce himself, instead.

//Excuse me? Leonard McCoy, is it?// He gave McCoy a bit of a nod as he approached, so that he'd know who the owner of that disembodied psionic voice was. //Jonothon Starsmore. I'm your teaching buddy this semester.//

Telepathy was something McCoy was aware of, sure, from Starfleet classes on the great number of Federation space species. That didn't mean he had to like it.

"My damn mind is my own; please keep out of it." It sounded rude as it came out, so he tempered it with, "And we'll get along fine. Nice to meet you, Starsmore."

//Charmed,// Jono replied, his tone a little dry. Sheer force of will kept him from rolling his eyes toward the sky. //Trust me, mate, I have no more interest in digging around in your mind than you have in me doing any digging. Better things t'do with my time.//

Like deal with leftover damage in his own head from people rooting around in there.

//Is speaking like this going to be a problem? I'm not terribly good at charades.//

Congratulations, Dr. McCoy, on the foot in the mouth. "You don't have a voice?" he asked directly, because he was already rude and on a roll with it. "Didn't mean to...." He let it drop off.

//I don't have a mouth,// Jono clarified, gesturing with one hand to the bandages wrapped up to just under his nose, a few renegade burn scars snaking up his face from there. //I can relate to the knee-jerk, anyhow. You wouldn't be the first person to tell me to keep out, and you'll hardly be th'last. Welcome to the island, either way.//

Well, this was embarrassing. "I'm sorry," he said with sincerity. McCoy could get over some discomfort if it wasn't just Jono being invasive. He would, however, continue to blame the universe for conspiring to make his life strange and difficult.

"So. Teaching."

The universe was a bit of a jackass like that. Jono would be the first to agree, if asked.

//Teaching,// he agreed, waving off the apology, content to just let it drop. //Have any experience dealing with teenagers, mate?//

"None whatsoever." McCoy wouldn't even admit to remembering being a teenager himself. He skipped it, probably. Or had permanent memory loss from all the beaming, portaling, zipping, and zapping Starfleet had put him through. "Any words of advice?"

//For teenagers in general, no. For the ones around here...// Jonothon shrugged. //You'll get all sorts. There are a fair number who are just your usual, average teens, who are here to learn. The angry ones, you'll notice easily enough. You'll know them to see them. The timid ones... they're hard to miss, too. The thing about Fandom teenagers is, they've all got something going on.//

Well, so did everyone here, didn't they?

//Normal, angry, or afraid, though, you'll need to be patient with them. And don't talk down to them. Some of those students had to grow up faster than any should ever have to.//

McCoy knew that this teaching gig wouldn't be an easy one.

It made him grumpy, but maybe he could do them some good. As long as he didn't fail them. Not this time.

"Thanks. I'll try not to. As long as no one mentions WebMD, we'll be fine."

//That's the spirit,// Jono replied, nodding. //And if there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask. Have you had a chance to get yourself settled since arriving?//

"Not settled so much, but I've a place to stay. Don't have much to move in to begin with." Except my bones, but nope, not going to say that. That nickname would decidedly be staying back in California with Jim. "Appreciate the hand."

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Spring 2014]

furnaceface - 2014-01-04 19:06 (UTC) - Expand

"Long trip, huh?" Mindy had heard some of the grumbling. Her tone was teasing and a touch more familiar than most people were with strangers. Just charge right in there, Min.

"You'd think keeping all my protons and electrons all sorted in one space and one time right where they ought to be is a simple request," he grumbled, "but not when you work for Starfleet." He nodded at Mindy. "Leonard McCoy. Doctor and now, apparently, teacher."

The first part of that response was gibberish to Mindy, but she perked up once he introduced herself. Another hot doctor? Lovely.

"Mindy Lahiri," she replied pleasantly, extending a hand for McCoy to shake. "OB/GYN. And teacher."

She was already adopting the slightly forward-leaning posture she used when she flirted, because Mindy worked fast. "Good to know there's another person here without years of practice working with kids, right?"

Edited 2014-01-04 16:44 (UTC)

He took her hand and shook it. "Used to be a pediatrician, actually. A lot of kids. Much younger though."

Her name clicked in his head. "You're the Sexual Health teacher, right?" He smirked. "Good luck with that."

"You know, I thought about specializing in pediatrics once, but I learned that I can't really tolerate the smell of vomit," Mindy shared. She punctuated that by nodding seriously, as though she had just answered a question McCoy had asked her. "I have so much respect for the people who can do it, though. It takes so much courage to see sick kids."

As to his other comment, she continued, "I actually think that it won't be so bad. I'm obviously young and relateable, so I'm thinking the students will connect with me." That was optimistic of her. "What are you teaching?"

So much courage, right. McCoy frowned. Well, that stung.

"Emergency Medical Situations. Or, something like that. The class title was not my idea," he lied. It was, he just...didn't mean for them to write it down. "But I'm neither young nor relateable. Sure hope that teaching doesn't come down to that."

She had meant it sincerely, just... hadn't been thinking. As usual.

"Are you kidding? That sounds like a great class." She was sincere about that too. "With, like, CPR and survival skills and stuff? Kids eat that stuff up. That's why so many of them sign up to compete on wilderness reality shows."

"Anyone who willingly puts themselves into danger like that should be thrown in jail, because clearly they're a menace to society." He didn't really mean it. Jim would've been thrown in jail ten times over. Just this week. But sometimes he just said things when he was in a mood. "My class should be for the unexpected, not for thrill-seekers."

"What? But then there wouldn't be any reality shows," Mindy said, shocked. "And it's not like it's ~~meta~~ the Hunger Games, there's obviously doctors behind the scenes on those things because they always look perfect when they're doing their what-do-you-call-them, talking head shots."

Edited 2014-01-04 18:33 (UTC)

McCoy didn't know what you call them, or what she was talking about, really. But that didn't stop him from having Very Strong Opinions about it. He shook his head. "Having a doctor right there doesn't change the fact that they are fixin' to put a scorpion on their face. Foolish."

"Eh, the scorpions are probably CGI anyway," Mindy said with a flourish of her hand. "Anyway, that's what we're for, right? Damage control after people do weird things to their bodies?"

McCoy's face cracked into something resembling a smile. Well, more of a smile that what was previously on his face. "Aren't you OB/GYN? Delivering a baby 'damage control' in your books?"