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

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!event: welcome picnic

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

Throughout the lawn, tables and chairs had been set up and scattered, some out in the bright, sunny center of everything, and some in the darker, more remote areas.

Eat up, folks! Don't let that food go to waste!

[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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Celia had worn one of her lighter dresses from her own time period, keeping her hair tied low so it fell down her back -- today wasn't a day to be dour or imposing. She remembered her own first picnic all too well, and as strange as it seemed to be back at another one already, she was going to do her best to be welcoming.

She found herself some tea and something to nibble on as she wandered, taking in the new students with a curious glance.

Noting a young lady dressed in a style more akin to what the women at home wore, and one who also seemed at ease in this place, Ichabod felt truly tempted to approach her.

That would be inappropriate however, as they had not been introduced and she was not a 'sibling' of any sort. Propriety seemed to abide different laws in this place, though, and he struggled with himself whether to risk offending her. This might have caused some staring, but it was truly unintentional.

Celia was used to looking for people who were dressed closely to how she was, and futhermore, she usually felt a stare fairly quickly, so it didn't take long for her to turn her attention to Ichabod with a small smile.

"You must be new," she said, wandering over. "I already know most of the time-displaced people here. Hello."

"Forgive me for staring," Ichabod said, blushing slightly. "I meant no disrespect, but as you aptly describe it, madam, I believe I am 'time-displaced'."

Finding his manners, he bowed slightly. "Ichabod Crane, at your service. I suspect your time is closer to my own than this place."

"Celia Bowen," she said with a warm smile, waving off his bow. "And by all means, don't stand on formality -- no one here does, you'll find. I'm from 1884, and it's...2014 here, if no one's told you."

She was already wincing a bit, since she knew what a shock it'd been to her -- and guessing by his clothes, he did indeed predate her a bit, even.

"2014? I left England in 1771. I didn't expect such a long journey." He said it lightly, to make the strangeness of it more bearable. "And neither did you when you first arrived here, miss Bowen?"

"Not in the slightest," she said, looking sympathetic. "Sorry for the shock. It'll take a few days to sink in, if you're anything like me -- I spent my first week here rather imagining I was losing my mind, or amongst those who already had. But I promise you, I'm not pulling your leg. Truly."

"I confess I have been questioning my sanity several times already today," he said, sincerely relieved to hear miss Bowen expressing the same sentiments. "And I do trust you honesty, as much as I trust my own senses at the moment. I do hope the classes are worth this."

"They're wonderful," Celia assured him, nodding eagerly. "Philosophy and science and magic are all addressed and incorporated, and it's the only place I've found that has a curriculum acknowledging all three and how they work together."

Belatedly, she realized the magic bit might be a shock, too. She wasn't very good at this 'easing people in' business, it seemed.

"Magic?" Ichabod said, frowning a little. "Surely they don't teach superstition alongside philosophy and science?"

"No, I'm afraid magic -- or, something like it, if you don't prefer that term -- is real, Mr. Crane," she said, wringing her hands a little nervously. "I promise, there are plenty of us who use it and we're almost all benevolent here, to the best of my knowledge."

He pondered that from a moment. "If it is real, then in what respect does the study of it differ from science?" He wasn't a gullible person, but Ichabod had encountered enough strangeness today to at least contemplate the possibility.

Celia thought about that, as well. "It may very well be scientific and we simply don't have a name for it," she decided, thoughtfully. "I know in my case, my magic is based off of my free will and the ways I'm able to control and manipulate the universe around me -- it's more personal and arbitrary than science, in that I can wish things into existence seemingly regardless of any logic or the rules of nature. I have a friend who has been biologically modified, though, and her gifts are similar to my own but based in science."

Edited 2014-05-03 21:35 (UTC)

"It's far less intimidating this time around," Eleanor said, offering her friend a smile. "Does this make us veterans?"

"At least compared to the ones who look shell-shocked," Celia said, raising her brows. "Which I hardly blame them for. I mean, I'm still getting used to the place, and I've had nearly four months to do so."

"I doubt one ever really gets used to this island," she said. "So tell me. What's new with you? Are there any interesting classes you'll be taking this summer? I hope we have some in common."

And also, was there booooooooooy news? Because Eleanor was far more girly than she had previously realized.

"I've decided to learn about mechanics?" she offered, shrugging with a slight smile. "Somehow these summer courses seem even less academic than the others."

She didn't have boy news -- or, well, she had some, but the boy in question was here and Celia would probably melt into a puddle if he overheard her. Which wasn't to say she wouldn't share, necessarily.

"Oh, I'm in that class too," Eleanor said brightly. "I love tinkering with mechanical objects. I was disabling the alarms Mother set at five so I could sneak out."

Eleanor's own boy -- did he count as Eleanor's boy? She wasn't clear on that -- had been away for about a week. So she was hoping he'd arrived in time for the picnic, and not just because she wanted to catch up on missed kisses.

"I'm not a mechanic," Celia said, making a face. "But! But it's a good way to practice my magic in detail. It's just parts fitting into each other, isn't it? A big puzzle."

And if she could manage the human hand, she could certainly manage something man-made, couldn't she?

"It is," Eleanor enthused. "It's understanding a machine's skeleton and being able to reconnect the pieces to make it walk properly again. Or make it able to walk with its elbows. I can't wait to start taking things apart."

"It's the putting them back together that I think I'll struggle with," Celia admitted, frowning. "But it'll be nice to be back to normal -- normal classes, without everyone reeling from something-or-other. And summer."

The way she breathed it was like a prayer; Celia was tired of the cold and the dark.

"Do you think it's going to get as warm as it was in Bali?" Eleanor asked. "I want to go to the beach again. I want to dance on the beach. Why don't we hold dances there?"

Barefoot dances on the sand, bonfires, the cool ocean breeze ...

"We ought to," Celia said, sighing. "I'd like more reasons to wear my vacation dresses, aside from dates and...vacation."

Gosh, Celia, you could just...wear them.

"Though if it gets hot enough, that's an excuse itself."

"I couldn't resist wearing one today," Eleanor said, gesturing to her sundress somewhat sheepishly. "I suppose if it's very warm, we could spend the whole day at the beach in our bathing-suits. Then wrap up in sarongs for the evening for the bonfire and dance."

The ones that they didn't even know if the island had. Yes.

"I wish I was brave enough," Celia said, eyeing Eleanor enviously. "But -- I don't know, people might see me. Bali was different, somehow. I'd feel silly showing up to class with my legs showing and blinding everyone with their paleness. You look lovely. I need to come to terms with knee-length skirts before I'll be able to spend all day in my swimsuit, I think."

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2014]

nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com - 2014-05-03 22:36 (UTC) - Expand

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2014]

pasunereveuse.livejournal.com - 2014-05-03 22:41 (UTC) - Expand

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