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

[bigdamnprincipal]

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!]

Comments

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"I'd be in your debt for this kindness," Thorin told her seriously.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"No debt necessary," Elsa replied, shaking her head. "I can't make any promises that it will even work. Do you remember how you got here?"

That always seemed like a normal question to ask, around Fandom. Funny, that.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"I was walking from from--a nearby city and when I emerged from a cluster of trees, I was here."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Ah..." Well, that actually got a little frown out of Elsa, there. "And I don't suppose turning and walking back the other way did you any good?"

He probably wouldn't be here if it had.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin shook his head at that. "I only found myself at a great body of water instead."

Oceans, yo. Not in his experience.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"The Atlantic Ocean," Elsa supplied, helpfully. "You... probably wouldn't want to try to swim that."

Obviously.

"The island seems to have picked you up, then," she settled on, pursing her lips a little. "Apparently it wants you here for something."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"You make it sound as though this land has a mind of its own."

Sounded a little... elvish.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"... Yeah," Elsa replied, looking a little uneasy. "I know, it sounds odd. But after some time spent around here, it's hard to think anything but."

She figured he'd get it eventually, if he didn't make it home soon.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin sighed again, eyeing the assembled mass warily. "This is, what, a place of learning?"

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"It is," Elsa agreed. "They teach... a lot of different things here, actually."

Some of which might actually be useful in running a kingdom someday! If you squinted!

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"You sound so certain," Thorin replied, almost teasing.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Well, if he was almost teasing, Elsa was almost blushing.

"They're not the sort of lessons I was expecting to be taking when I enrolled in this school," she admitted, reaching a hand up to awkwardly touch her hair. "Classes on navigating rough terrain and so on aren't really what I had in mind, anyway."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin frowned at that, but the race of men were very different in how their females were taught, he supposed.

"It's a valuable skill. A ruler should learn all they can for the benefit of their people."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"And that's why I took the class," Elsa said mildly, though she was smiling a bit to herself all the same. It would be practically scandalous back home, but this place has given me an opportunity to learn things I never would have in Arendelle."

Like how to wear trousers. And that she had some very fabulous hips.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

If they were clad in a well crafted armor, Thorin might notice them. But alas.

"Truly?" He'd never really understand that strange separation among the genders of men.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Truly," Elsa agreed, giving a little shake of her head. "Not that most people back home would know me to see me, I suppose."

She paused, and then gave him a wry smile.

"Is that really so strange, where you're from?"

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"While our females are rarer than those of men." Because Tolkien was effin' weird. "We would not keep them from their chosen craft. It is the purpose of our race to honor our maker with the skills granted to us."

And his sister hit far harder than his brother could.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

You go, sis!

"I like that," Elsa decided, after a pause. "Strengthen your people by letting your people play to their strengths. More societies should embrace that."

Her life would have gone way differently if she had, for example.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

But they weren't elves, so. Sucks to be them.

"We are a steadfast people," Thorin agreed with a nod. "Men tend to be more... transient? Your lives are shorter than ours."

The fleeting quality is what drew elves to them, after all.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa was beginning to get an inkling that she was talking to a member of a completely different species, not just a very short human.

What? They were royalty. Weird things happened.

"How... how much shorter? Tell me more about your people, please, I'm curious."

She could sell that request with a smile, right? Elsa smiled good.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

Got it in one, Elsa! Got it in one.

"I believe the oldest of my time was near three hundred. And my line is longer lived than others."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"That... is actually fascinating," Elsa replied, blinking. "That long? I can't imagine what I would do with that much time."

It would be a very long time to sit inside alone and be afraid. Which would suck. A lot.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"Elves live for thousands of years, I hear," he added. Now that sounded horrible. "We devote ourselves to our crafts. And if we are lucky, we may find a mate to share our lives with."

And then Tolkien made the gender ratio 3 to 1. Oh, Tolkien. You didn't know what the fangirls would do with that. You didn't know.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Well, 'mate' was a word that Elsa was never going to use, ever. With a ratio like that, people from Middle Earth might have stood to be scandalized by a queen-to-be who didn't have any plans of having children, ever, perhaps.

"It sounds like a goal worth reaching for," she decided, smiling a little. "To make the best of what you have, however long you're given. And what is your craft? Or am I asking too many questions? Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

... Elsa still didn't do 'people' often.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Summer 2015]

[dwarvenswagger]

"I have begun training in smithing and battle," Thorin replied, brighter than before. "I have a few decades more before I will be a master of either."

And, you know, almost an adult.

"Beyond that, I am learning to lead my people when my grandfather and father pass into the halls of our maker."

His diplomacy skills? Not too bad when elves weren't involved. Unfortunately, elves. Always elves.