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

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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Raven knew that look. That was an "oh god, the people at my new school are going to want to kill me as much as the ones at my old school did." Raven might have worn a look like that a time or two, before she got really good at maintaining a more standard appearance.

Her new little sister would have to wait. Raven wasn't about to let that look go without a little bit of reassurance.

"Hey," she called, pitching her voice low to keep from startling the girl too much. "Are you alright?"

Eleanor whirled around, nearly clocking someone with the suitcase. She would be more careful, then. And she would breathe. Both of those were important.

"I'm fine," she lied, attempting a bright, forced smile. "I think I'm in the wrong place, that's all. I have to ... go and see about something. Very kind of you."

If she didn't take the name tag, they couldn't prove she was Eleanor Lamb.

"Maybe I could help," Raven said. "Fandom is always a little bit . . . unexpected for people. It can seem a bit like a big mistake. But the people here are actually really lovely." She thought of her new roommate. "Well. Most of them, anyway."

Eleanor struggled for a moment, wishing it could be just that simple.

"It's nothing personal," she said. "You seem very pleasant. I'm sure everyone else is here, too. Most of you."

She hadn't meant to put such an obvious emphasis on most.

She cleared her throat, instead, and decided to try being straightforward. "I don't ... think I belong here. That's all."

Of course it wasn't personal. That kind of terror was never personal to anyone else.

"You're scared," Raven said. "It's not just about not fitting in or not finding any friends, though, is it?"

Eleanor was going to choke down the rising terror. Okay. This girl actually seemed nice, and sane. Maybe she could explain.

"I can't," she said. "They want me to -- to sign up and they've already paired us off. I've had enough of scientists for a lifetime. I don't know what the angle is, here, but please, leave me out."

She was asking nicely. She had to hope that would suffice. If backed into a corner, she could fight her way free, but they wouldn't make her resort to violence, would they?

Raven frowned. "Scientists? Paired off -- oh, did you mean the sibling program?" She wasn't sure what that had to do with scientists. "Did you see who you were paired with? I could let them know you're not interested if you don't want to participate. I'm sure they'd understand."

What were they going to do, expel her? This girl seemed like she might prefer that, anyway.

Eleanor blinked. That was about all her mind could process. Could it really be that simple?

"I didn't realize these sorts of things were optional," she said, her tone a trace bitter. "They weren't, back home."

For the good of the Family. For the good of Rapture. She shook her head to clear out the past.

"It's just that I don't want to be bonded to anyone," she said, folding her arms self-consciously. It sounded apologetic; perhaps it was. "That is, not ... genetically. Not again."

Genetically. . . ?

"Oh gosh no, it's nothing like that! They don't try to turn you into genetic siblings. It's more of a . . . mentor sort of thing. Students come here from all over, so the school likes to make sure new kids have someone who's been here awhile to help show them around, make sure they don't have too much trouble with the culture shock."

"A mentor," she said, carefully. She looked at the girl, then back at the table again. "Just ... a fanciful name for it. Are you sure?"

She would rather like a mentor, or even a friend. She could use a friend.

She couldn't let her guard down, just yet, but she did look as though the color was coming back to her cheeks.

"That's right. No family relations at all that you don't want." Raven was glad to see her looking at least a little bit more comfortable. "So how about it? I signed up for the program, but I haven't found my mentee, yet. We could look together, if you like. I can help make sure whoever it is doesn't get too siblingy on you."

"All right," Eleanor agreed. She would check the list, and if it meant something sinister later, she would find a way to break out of this school. She could manage that.

"I've never had a sibling," she added, softly. The Little Sisters didn't count. "I won't mind whatever my mentor is like. I only thought ..."

Best to let that trail off. If this island didn't have Little Sisters, it might be odd to hear of them. Eleanor looked just like everyone else. It was convenient, that way.

"That's good," Raven said, "because we get all sorts around here. A lot of students aren't even from Earth." She frowned. "Oh, not that I'm saying that's strange. For all I know, you're not from Earth, either, or you're from one where lots of people are shaped like talking ponies."

Hmm, perhaps she should warn this girl about the talking pony.

"I'm Raven, by the way. From Earth, 1953. Well, '54 now. It's 2014 here, by the way. That was a big adjustment for me when I got here." She was starting to babble, wasn't she? She didn't want to just claim this girl as her own "mentee", but she was starting to hope. "What's your name? I can go check the list for you."

Eleanor was trying to keep up with this. "I'm ... from Earth, yes," she said. "Though not a very common ... place to be from. There are aliens? And talking ponies?"

She was sure that she was hallucinating. Still on the ship, having a fever dream. Had Mother sedated her?

"Twenty ..." Wait. The year 2014? That wasn't even. "You mean we're in the year two thousand and fourteen?"

This was a gape, yes.

"I left Iceland in 1968, and arrived in the Colonies in 2014!?"

Sorry, Raven. Allow one moment for her brain to fix itself before she could remember details like her own name.

Edited 2014-01-05 03:11 (UTC)

Hey, Raven had done the "what do you mean I'm in the future" dance herself, not too long ago. She could wait for it to sink in.

"Well, it's not really the colonies any more," she said. "In this universe, it hasn't been for almost 250 years." At some point, she was going to have to try to explain universes, wasn't she? "But yeah, you crossed a pretty big time zone in coming over here. Don't worry, you can probably still get back if you want. I was just home in 1954 a couple days ago for the holidays."

So ... she was in the future. All right. And she could go back, if she chose. Did that mean ...

"Do I have to?" she asked, abruptly. "Ever go back?"

Trapped fifty years ahead of where Mother might ever think to look for her. That sounded wonderful.

Raven considered her answer for a moment. She wasn't actually in charge of this girl's future. For all she knew, the school would frown on someone using it to purposefully hide away from whatever they were trying to get away from at home.

But, well. This girl obviously had some pretty big stuff to hide away from. So even if the school didn't like it. . . . "No. Definitely not. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, and if someone tries to make you . . . punch them in the face or something."

She'd never actually tried punching someone, before, but the idea appealed to her. Maybe she'd start taking a martial arts class or something.

She never had to go back. If she wasn't in her Mother's timeline, wasn't in her universe, then maybe no one could ever find her. She could actually be free.

That was what the Little Sisters had given her. How was she supposed to thank them? She'd probably never see them again.

There was a nervous laugh spilling out from her, and then another. She wasn't going to have hysterics here, or weep. But it might take her a moment, and when she glanced at the other girl again, her eyes were a touch misty.

"Thank you," she said, and she meant it, with every bit of herself. "I can do worse than punch them. And I will, too."

It wasn't a very good idea to talk about that, here, a thought which helped sober her up quickly.

"I'm sorry, I'm taking a great deal of your time," she said, abruptly, pulling her very best British composure out. "You asked my name. It's Eleanor. Eleanor Lamb. I don't know who I'm to be paired with. Should I be wearing a nametag?"

Raven favored her with a broad grin. "Really? That's lucky, you're actually my mentee." She'd been really hoping. She'd hate to have stepped on some other student's toes. "Which means you're just fine, because you're meant to take up my time. You can put a nametag on if you want, but I think once we've spotted each other, we're okay. Oh, unless you still need to find your roommate. It could help for that."

"I haven't bothered looking," Eleanor said, offering a relieved grin herself. "We have roommates? I won't mind, I haven't much with me."

Or at all. Her worldly possessions fit into this small suitcase, and it wasn't even that full.

"So ... how exactly do you go about mentoring me? You've enlightened me as to the current year, and shown me that the sibling program isn't a secret plot of some kind. What's next?"

"I don't have a script," Raven admitted. "Your my first mentee. I've only been here since the summer, actually." Raven tipped her head. "Let's see, I've mentioned the folks from other planets, right? And everyone seems to be from their own world, even when they are from Earth." She bit her lip, glancing over at Eleanor out of the corner of her eye. "And . . . I could show you something. If you promise to keep it a secret. I don't want everyone knowing about it, just yet, but I don't want you to think I'm hiding anything from you."

There was a nervous flutter to go with that, but it was more anticipatory than panicked. (Her nerves were too dodgy for it to be entirely without panic.)

"I wouldn't mind you hiding," she said, quickly. "We all have our secrets."

As if Raven hadn't figured out that she had her own. Seriously.

She couldn't help the shy smile. "But ... I'd like to see, if that's all right."

The teacher earlier was a telepath of some kind, she had discerned. And aliens abounded. So what was Raven's secret?

Raven shifted in her seat a little, glancing around to make sure no one -- and nothing -- was watching. "Okay." She closed her eyes and shifted, setting off a cascade of what looked like blue scales flipping over across her skin. When she was done, she was still mimicking her coat and scarf, but her face and hands were in her natural blue scaled form, her eyes bright yellow. "I was scared when I first got here, too," she said. "Where I'm from, people aren't too fond of those of us who are different. I still worry about who I tell, but it's getting easier to trust people the longer I stay."

Eleanor hadn't been sure what to expect, but it wasn't that. It was ... awe-inspiring.

She nearly reached out a hand to touch the scales, just to see what they were made of, before realizing exactly how tasteless that was and jerking her hand back.

"But that's incredible," she breathed. "Are those ... is that for defensive purposes? Do the scales protect you? How did you do that?"

Raven shrugged. "It's just what I do. I can look like anything I want, but if I want to really relax, I'm blue and scaly." She held up her hands, flexing her fingers. "I don't think they're very defensive. But I don't really get cold, so they might at least be insulating."

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