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

[nomoresportscars]

There was the bonfire for everyone who thought Maryland in January was a little too cool for their taste, as well as the moddable warm food and drinks, and chairs and tables in the school colors of blue and gold. Some tables were also set a little further away from the crowds.

Because there were always people who preferred the fringes.

[OCD up! This is the picnic 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: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like Chuck had planned to stick around the Portalocity lounge with the rest of his new class and wait. He'd gotten out of there the moment he'd arrived, and the only reason he was late now was that he'd had to carry Max for the duration of his walk here.

Puppies could only keep going for so long.

So now Chuck was sitting at a picnic table, feeding the pup slices of meat and looking the absolute opposite of approachable. Joy.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[genesishero]

Ozzy might have only been one half husky, and the other half of him was something altogether tinier and decidedly not a powerhouse in the world of dogs, but huskies had been bred to pull things, and the half that was in Ozzy was no exception.

Today's thing-being-pulled was a somewhat perplexed Evan, who hadn't realized that there was another dog at the picnic until Ozzy had started bounding off toward Chuck, nearly yanking his boy off his feet at the sudden takeoff. At least Evan had more or less managed to reel his arm back in by the time they got close. Being dragged halfway across campus by something the size of a corgi was bad enough without an arm that looked something like a stretched noodle.

Having reached their destination, Ozzy was going to just make himself comfortable, trying to sniff at the other dog. Hi, other dog! Are you a dog? Maybe we can be dogs together!

Evan, in turn, mostly just looked chagrined as he tried to gather up his wiggling canine in his arms.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Woah-- oi, Max!"

And there went Chuck's plate. You were sure to wind up in his good books now, Evan. Blissfully ignorant of his master's plight, Max dashed forward as far as his leash would let him, shoving his nose in Ozzy's face. Or as close to it as he could get.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[genesishero]

Hooray, dogs!

Evan, for his part in all this, was blushing furiously, wrapping his arms around Ozzy's middle and almost, almost managing to pick him up for the third time now, but the little guy kept wiggling free. And now there was excited barking to go with it.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! He just took off!"

Why did Ozzy have so much wriggle in him?!

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Can't you control your bloody animal?!" Chuck demanded, tugging Max back with help of the leash.

Max was tiny and his anchor impression was weak, so it wasn't too much of a fuss.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[genesishero]

"Usually! He just doesn't get to see many other dogs!" Puppies were apparently at a premium around here until just about right this moment. This moment also involved a fair bit of flailing, apparently, as Evan grabbed at Ozzy one more time, and then wrapped his arms around him a couple more times than was strictly humanly possible in order to keep him from making another breakaway. "But I should have guessed that someone would have a pet here today. Someone usually has something."

Max was new and novel in that he wasn't part polar bear, or a dinosaur.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Was Chuck developing a mild facial twitch already? Must be Fandom.

"Didn't see 'no pets' on the folder anywhere," he said, managing to make that sound about as pissy as everything else he'd said to date. He plopped Max down in his lap. "How about you get him a better leash?"

Sorry, Evan. This was just how Chuck communicated with... everyone who wasn't a 250 feet tall robot.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[genesishero]

"His leash is perfectly fine," Evan replied, frowning as he straightened up, raising an eyebrow at Chuck. "He managed to drag me across the school grounds at the other end of it. He just surprised me when he took off."

A beat.

"A little bit like yours surprised you."

Ozzy, for the most part, kept up his wriggle for a moment more, and then decided now would be a great time to appeal to Evan's better nature to set him down by starting to lick excitedly at his chin. He wasn't getting anywhere with the grip his boy had on him, now.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"You don't see mine running off to the other end of the picnic just 'cause he got excited," Chuck said. "You get a dog, you figure out how to contain him."

He had to aggressively avoid thinking about how that equated to his father sending him off to be dealt with elsewhere - and even in that, he failed.

Max, perhaps sensing this, began licking Chuck's wrist with enthusiasm.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[genesishero]

Evan noticed Max's enthusiastic licking and wound up smiling a little, in spite of himself.

It was difficult to be properly chagrined when there were happy dogs giving happy dog kisses.

"You're right," he replied, ducking his head a little in hopes of hiding that little grin he had going, there. "I'm usually better at it, but obviously he needs more training in crowds. I'll have to work on that." A lot. "Um... your puppy's cute, by the way."

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

It was difficult, and it was only by sheer force of practice and temperament that Chuck managed to cling to his own chagrin so effectively. "Won't be a puppy for that much longer," he said, patting Max on the flank. "You'll grow up to be a mean ol' badass, aren't you?"

Yeah, the drooly puppy currently flopping over and broadcasting happiness in all directions was going to grow up to be terribly mean. Really.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[genesishero]

"I'm sure he'll be the most badass dog on the island," Evan replied solemnly, biting the inside of his cheek now to keep his grin from being too apparent. If asked, he'd totally blame it on the tickly dog nose that was now snuffling around his neck, trying to find a way to coerce Evan into putting him back down. "He's a bulldog, right? I've never seen one in person before."

In fairness, Evan hadn't actually seen a lot of things in person.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Purebred and all," Chuck agreed, sounding... almost a bit mollified. In the week or so since he'd gotten this dog it had already grown to be quite possibly his favorite non-robot creature in the universe.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia was at odds with herself. On the one hand, she didn't especially want to talk to the boy, considering how...little he seemed to want to be talked to. She was generally pretty good at reading expressions, and...well.

On the other, appearances could be deceiving, and he had a puppy.

"Does he like strangers?" she asked quietly when she approached, keeping her hands to herself for now.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Ugh.

All right, fair: the girl wasn't doing anything to actively incite Chuck's ire. He kept his glower at a low pitch, extending his focus to scritching Max behind the ears instead. "This one? Yeah, he likes strangers. Loves 'em. Don't you, Max?"

Max gave Celia a big, happy grin.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Max," Celia said, smiling down at the dog as she delicately tugged off one glove so he could sniff her hand. She glanced back up at Chuck, and added, "You don't mind? I didn't know we were allowed pets here."

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Didn't say anything in the brochure," Chuck said idly. "So if we aren't, it's their problem, not mine."

He added nothing that might give her any indication she couldn't touch the dog. Max took advantage of the situation to sniff Celia's fingers, then her palm. Then he shoved his entire face into her hand.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Aww!" Celia was generally more dignified than this, but there was a puppy. "They won't make you send him home," she replied, eagerly scritching Max behind the ears. "They'll take one look at his precious face and make him our new mascot. If I'd known animals were an option, I might have brought something."

She could always conjure up a kitten or something, if she got lonely. She hadn't tried it with anything alive except for birds, but she was here to practice, wasn't she?

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Oh, if they try and send 'im home, they'll definitely have a problem," Chuck said. "Bad enough I'm here, I'm not giving up my dog."

Because seriously, Max was the only living creature Chuck was willing to admit having any affection towards, and with good reason.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia raised a brow at that. "You didn't want to come?" she asked, not wanting to pry but also curious about what she'd gotten into. Maybe he knew something she didn't.

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"No, my dad thought this was a good idea," said Chuck. And just in case his tone didn't give it away: "It wasn't."

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Mine thought the same thing," Celia said with a rueful smile. "What a delight, to have fathers so willing to ship their children away in this world. But it doesn't seem so bad, so far. Certainly better than what I'd be doing otherwise."

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Speak for yourself," Chuck said. Ah, kindred spirits. Sort of. "I had useful things to do elsewhere, until this mess happened. High school. Seriously. That's the best the old man could come up with."

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Oh, really?" she asked curiously. "What's so important down in...." She paused, squinting, and ventured, "Australia?"

Re: General Mingling [Spring 2014]

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"I'm training to be a Ranger," Chuck said, like that was supposed to mean something. "The old man snapped me out of the program two-thirds of the way in."