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

Entry tags:

!event: welcome picnic

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

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!]

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"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.

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."

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.

"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.

"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.

Mollified was good! Evan would take mollified!

"That's neat," he decided, because 'neat' was a very versatile word and it worked just as well here as any other. "How old is he? Did you have to go to a breeder to get him? Ozzy's a pet store dog... They hadn't set up the shelter on the island yet when I got him."

Evan was going to be friendly at you now, Chuck. Heads-up.

This could only end poorly.

"Couple of weeks old, maybe a month, as far as I can tell," Chuck said, patting Max some more. "No idea where he came from. He was a Christmas present."

Several weeks late and bought off the back of Herc's Chuck-related guilt complex, but whatever.

"Well... he's quite the gift," Evan decided, before, wrapping Ozzy's leash around his wrist a few times, he tentatively set the dog back down again. This time, he was planting his feet and making sure he wasn't going anywhere. And if that involved turning them into lead weights... well... it wasn't like anyone could see them under his boots. "The most exciting presents I ever get are usually books."

There was a part of Chuck that would happily take books over puppies for presents if it meant said presents actually felt like gifts, rather than bribes.

He shrugged. Evan's problems were not his problems. "Still wound up with a dog, didn't you?"

"Yeah... I got him after I came here," Evan agreed, pursing his lips and giving Ozzy a look as he worked his paws into the snow, trying to get some traction again. "He's been good company. I'm sure yours will be, too."

Evan could spot a person who needed the affections of a dog from a mile away.

"Max and me'll do fine," Chuck agreed. He peeled a slice of lunchmeat off his plate and offered it to Ozzy. "Watch 'im better next time, all right?"

"I will," Evan promised as Ozzy gave another wag of his tail, hoovered back the offered slice of meat, and then sat up on his haunches. He was terrible at 'stay,' but he wasn't above 'beg.' Ever. "Um, I'm Evan. And this is Ozzy."

Ozzy, who was going to hold this pose forever, or until more lunchmeat came into the picture.

"You're a hungry one, aren't you?" More lunchmeat was supplied. Because dogs. Dogs were all right. "I'm Chuck Hansen, this is Max."

There, Evan. You'd earned a name. Be grateful.

Oh, he was!

"Hi, Max," he greeted, sparing a smile for the pup as Ozzy gobbled down another one piece of meat. "And welcome to Fandom, Chuck. If there's anything you need at all to help you settle in..."

A beat, and then he was pointing his free hand toward town.

"You or Max. There's a shelter in town that sells pet supplies, just down that way, in case you haven't had a chance to look around yet."

"I'll check it out once Max starts running out," Chuck said.

Unlike his quote-unquote 'sibling', Evan was actually helpful. See, Isabelle? That's how it worked. "Anything else I need to know?"

"I could write you an entire essay about things that people should know before they come to the island," Evan replied with a wry smile. "Would you like me to start with the weird weather, the weird wildlife, the weird teachers, or the radio?"

Hey! Options!

"Have a go at whatever," Chuck said, with a lenient shrug. "As long as this isn't about that ren faire bollocks again."

"Ren faire...?" Evan looked quizzical for a moment before shaking it off and trying to figure out a way to approach Fandom's... Fandom-ness without seeming too weird. "Did your sibling tell you something that was a little difficult to swallow?"

It would help to get a feel for where Chuck was from before he started, perhaps.

"She called me 'mundane' because I'd 'never met a werewolf'," Chuck drawled, sounding unimpressed. "Queen of the local geek club, I take it."

"Or just rude," Evan replied, wrinkling his nose a little. "Mundane doesn't exactly sound like a flattering sort of term."

A little like flatscan, actually. Evan frowned a bit.

"We, uh--" How to put this? "We have all kinds of people around here, you know? It takes all types." Case in point, he was the extra pale bluish kid with lips to his ears, here. "We're used to people being a little weird around here, you know? You adjust to it eventually. Students here come from all over the place."

Chuck figured the blue skin was just some weird goth club... thing. The island seemed like that kinda place. With that idea planted firmly in his mind, he copped to a bored "Sure."

Evan would be so out of place in a goth club. But, hey, so long as it meant people weren't staring, he was okay with them making that assumption.

"Okay, um. Good." He gave Chuck a little smile. "Did anyone mention the squirrels, yet?"

That seemed like the most immediate, easiest weirdness to point out.

That was about the weirdest damned segue Chuck had ever heard.

"What, the island has a rodent problem?"

"You could say that," Evan agreed, and then glanced around, spotting one in a nearby tree, complete with tiny notebook, pencil stub, and fedora. He pointed to it. "They're kind of everywhere."

Chuck looked over in that direction, already planning to demand to know why Evan was wasting his time--

He blinked. "What the hell?"

Ren faire fangirls. Goths. People who liked to dress up squirrels. The old man had a lot to account for.

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

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