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

The last picnic for new arrivals had involved a bonfire, but there was no need for artificial warmth today. The weather outside was sunny, and just breezy enough that no one would roast, hopefully. There were tables and chairs arranged around the lawn, along with a long table of food, drinks, and desserts for anyone who stopped by.

There were stacks of nametags for people to label themselves with, and lists to help folks find their siblings and roommates. With everything in order, it was time to welcome some new people!

[OCD is 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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I--I gotta be me, but, like, cooler," he explained, fingers indenting his Solo cup. "You know, reach the kids, make 'em respect me, all that. An' you can't fake cool. Even when you think you are, you find out later that everybody was laughin' at you the whole time."

Not that he was referencing anything specific. Really. That would be just silly.

". . . You're worried a bunch of teenagers are going to laugh at you?" Maybe it was an age thing; that hadn't even cropped up on Eliot's radar. "Pretty sure that's gonna be a given no matter what you do, man. They're teenagers."

"The last time a group of teenagers laughed at me, they also whupped my ass in the damn library," Hardison pointed out.

Admittedly, he'd gotten a couple of good punches in, but he lacked Eliot's gift of fighting off groups. He'd been pinned down and covering his head when Parker showed up and took them down with a few chairs and the element of surprise.

"I ain't sayin' it's gonna happen here, but I am sayin' I don't really have the best track record with school, a'ight?"

This had seemed like a much better idea a few weeks ago.

"Okay," Eliot said. "But that time you were pretendin' to be one of them. This time, you're a teacher. It's a totally different thing."

"Yeah, instead of just makin' like me, I also gotta earn their respect. An', hell, I remember what an ass I was as a teenager. Thought I was smarter than anybody else, ain't nobody could tell me nothin'."

"You thought that 'cause you were," Eliot noted. "Don't try to make 'em like you, man, just -- talk to 'em. Like people, you know? You respect 'em, they'll respect you back."

"Twenty bucks says there's at least four kids in this school as smart or smarter than me in this school," Hardison noted, but he was calming a little. Talking to his crew, feeling their absolute faith in him, had that effect.

"I s'pose if I get too nervous, I could just approach this like a con," he mused. "Pretend it's just another role like in...what job was that? With Nate's terrible hairpiece?" He snapped his fingers. "The Fairy Godparents Job, right. You in them gym shorts an' me an' Parker as yuppies in pastels."

"I didn't wear gym shorts," Eliot grumbled. It was important that he note that. "And don't con the kids, dammit, they'll see right through you. Just -- you make your style work." That's what Nate had told him going into that job, anyway. And it'd worked well enough.

"...So you sayin' I shouldn't use an accent when talkin' to them on the first day?" he asked, giving Eliot a tiny grin.

"Yes," Eliot said. "I am absolutely sayin' that." He clapped his hand on Hardison's back, the gesture turning into a reassuring rub about halfway through. "You're gonna be fine, man. Seriously."

And Hardison leaned into that rub, not unlike a very large cat. "Thanks, man," he said, all sincerity. "But now I gotta ask you a question. What's it like havin' all the confidence in the world?"

It seemed nice.

"Ain't bad," Eliot said with a grin. "You'll have to try it, sometime."

"Prolly should," Hardison agreed. "You know the only way I know how to get somethin' is to steal it, right? Might end up borrowin' some of yours, maybe."

Eliot snorted. "That's your trouble, Hardison. Haven't figured out how much better somethin' is when you grow it on your own."

"Blame it on the company I keep," he said, giving Eliot a flirtatious smile. "I'm still young an' impressionable. S'not my fault you an' Parker are bad influences on me."

"I'm a great influence on you," Eliot protested. "Parker's the one who wants to steal everything she gets."

"I'm sorry, how did we meet again?" Hardison snarked. "Boy Scout charity drive was it?"

Parker wanted to steal everything. Eliot wanted to hit everything. And then there was Hardison.

"I didn't say I didn't steal. I said I don't steal everything." There was totally a difference.

"Still enough to warp an innocent guy like me," Hardison declared. "You know I look to my elders for moral guidance."

"You hacked the Pentagon when you were twelve. I was still a fine, upstandin' soldier, back then."

Well, not really 'upstanding'. He'd already been doing special ops wetwork for a few years by then.

"An' if you were a hacker, you'd be findin' that unbearably sexy right about now," Hardison said with a grin. "Be nice to me an' maybe I'll bring you along to the Oscars. I don't even gotta hack to put myself on the guest list no more."

"What do I care about the Oscars?" Eliot's grin went a little evil. "Get me into the CMAs, then I might be impressed."

"How many times do I gotta tell you Eliot," Hardison said, even as he made plans to do just that. Though Eliot would owe him SO MUCH for that evening out, ye gods. "I can't hack a hick."

"Dunno 'bout that, Hardison," Eliot said, letting his accent get ridiculously thick. "I dun heard these days they're usin' all sortsa fancy technologies, even in the country."

"Well, that thar elek-trici-tee sure is newfangled," Hardison retorted because their way of flirting was the absolute best. "I hear y'all gonna get indoor plumbin' any minute now, too! Won't Ma an' Pa be pleased as punch 'bout that?"

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]

RE: Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2015]