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

[bigdamnprincipal]

Okay, admittedly, having a picnic at the beginning of January wasn't the best idea the school had ever come up with. Thankfully, the weather was sort of agreeable today - it wasn't too chilly, the sun was out, and there were still pretty pockets of unmelted snow on the lawn.

In the middle of the lawn, a bonfire had been set up for warmth and light--mostly the warmth--and the tables and chairs had been set out to mostly be in the sun. There was a long table with a variety of moddable warm foods, and there was the usual table of nametags and lists to help folks find their siblings and roommates. With everything set up, it was time to welcome the new folks!

[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 [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

Eric, meanwhile, had arrived back in Fandom from Georgia late last night via the far more conventional Portalocity portal. But that wasn't important. What was important was the fact that he was looking for Velma! And also carrying a picnic basket labelled "Fandom High Welcome Kit" in gold and blue glitter.

"There you are!" he said, once he spotted Velma. "Eric Bittle, I'm your school assigned sibling, I'm so pleased to meet you!"

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

Velma had a lot of questions. Like why were they on the grounds of a castle and who thought outdoor picnics in January were a good idea. But the one that was currently winning the needed to be asked race was,

"Say what?"

If nothing else, Eric looked to be a few years younger than Velma.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

Oh my god Velma he was only a year younger than you. He wasn't that short.

(He was absolutely that short, hence why Eggsy had saddled him with 'Bitty')

"It's my job to welcome you to Fandom, help you get the lay of the land, answer any questions you may have about this place, etcetera," Eric explained. "Also, I brought something for you!" he held out the picnic basket, gesturing for her to take it.

Inside, she'd find a half-dozen mini-pies of various flavours, a Fandom High Gremlins t-shirt and pennant (that the school did not seem to have any sort of actual sports teams wasn't the point), a town directory, a separate directory of just the eating establishments, and of course, two small containers of glitter in colours that matched those that adorned the outside of the basket.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

It was the pies that drew her attention first. "Oh my god, pie," she whispered. "Do you know how long it's been since I had pie?"

Don't make her answer that, Eric. You might cry.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

Given that he was already giving her a somewhat horrified look, yes, an actual number might make him cry. "It's also part of my job to make sure you never have to say something like that ever again." Which, no, was not part of the official Fandom High Big Sibling Duties list but when it came to Eric, it might as well be.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"It's not like I have to worry about Marketing anymore, either," Velma said, sounding like she was trying to psyche herself up. "'A moment on the lips and your endorsement dips.' That's what they used to say." She looked up, giving him a fierce smile. "But I don't have any more endorsements to worry about, do I?"

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Ugh," Eric made a face at Velma's recitation. Being a former competitive athlete, he could sympathise somewhat. "Not at all."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

Five minutes in and Velma already liked her school-assigned sibling much more than she did her blood relations.

Taking his agreement as permission, Velma chose one of the pies at random and bit into it. Oh. Oh this was goooooood. The pastry was light and flaky, a bit of sugar sprinkled over the top had kind of glazed over and the filling--blueberry--was the perfect amount of sweet and tart. "I think I love you," she mumbled.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"... Thank you?" Eric squeaked. He was used to positive reactions to his baking, kind of thrived on it really, but declarations of love were new.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

Six years, Eric. Velma hadn't had pie in six years. Her desserts had been things like lemon-and-lavender sorbet, where the flavor attempted to make up for the lack of calories.

If it helped, at least half of that declaration had been directed at the pie, too.

"Is that what all big siblings do here?" she asked him once the pie had been devoured down to crumbs and even those had been licked off her fingers. "Offer the new kids pie?"

If so, she loved this school.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Well, we're mostly here to ease you in to Fandom and help you out," Eric said. "Pie is just my preferred method for that whole process."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, the only place I think I've ever felt more immediately welcomed was the North Pole," Velma said. "And, I mean, it's the North Pole. Santa's village is kind of an unfair standard to hold anybody to."

She was thinking about having another pie. She could close the bag and try to stretch them out a little.

"So, do you show me to my classes or something?" Velma glanced around. "Is the school nearby?" Honestly, it was hard to see anything that wasn't just the castle.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

Eric was at the point in Fandom residence where he could take the 'North Pole' thing more or less in stride (though there may be questions later regarding the existence of a Naughty or Nice list). "I can, if you want," Eric said. "Do you have your class list with you?" And then he was just gonna point at said castle. "Also, uh, yeah. It's pretty nearby."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

Oh, it definitely existed. Velma's friend Jackie was on the Naughty list all the time.

"Uhh, yeah," she said, digging into her back pocket for where she'd shoved her schedule. "I have--whoa, wait, what?" She looked from Eric to the castle and back. "That's our school? Fucked up times five--I'm going to need to call the Princess about this one."

It was no Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle, but it wasn't a slouch, either.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Yep! I mean, the inside's totally modern," not to mention whatever you'd call the Danger Shop, what with its technology that didn't quite exist on most versions of Earth, "despite the fact that the exterior looks like it was lifted right off the cover of a fantasy novel."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"So I'm not going to have to slay a dragon or riddle a sphinx every morning before class?" Velma wanted to sound like she was joking but again, one of her dearest friends lived in Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle. She wasn't taking any chances.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Noooo," Eric shook his head. "I mean, I wouldn't discount it happening in some of the classes we get here, though."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"Wait, really?" Velma asked, remembering to look at her schedule again. "I mean, I know one of my classes was about punching people, but I kinda thought someone was being cute with naming conventions."

This was starting to feel more like the classes she'd taken with The Super Patriots, Inc. than the ones at her old middle school.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Last semester I had a class where I turned in to a pony temporarily," Eric informed her.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"Was it a full on physical transformation, or did you slip into an alternate reality and your body took on those attributes instead?" Velma asked, sounding surprisingly well-versed in the subject.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Um," Eric blinked. "Well, we took a magic portal thing there," as opposed to the somewhat less magic portals one could also take. "So I think the second thing?"

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"At my, uhh, last school..." which was a very interesting way to explain The Super Patriots, Inc. "...we had to take units on alternate realities and stuff. They're pretty common where I'm from."

At least for superheroes.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"Huh," Eric said thoughtfully. "That wasn't the sort of thing I had any idea about before I came here, so I guess maybe you've got one up on me there."

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[fckedupx5000.livejournal.com]

"Well, alternate reality science is still a newer branch of science and they're still hashing out a lot of the theory, but even before we started looking into that, there were still reality-warpers to learn about and dreamscapers and the Seasonal Lands," Velma said. "I think several hundred alternate realities have been documented and cataloged, ranging from dimensions of pure fantasy, the seasonal universes, upwards of fifty places claiming to be Hell, an equal number of places claiming to be Heaven and, like, the inevitable variant timelines."

She was quoting directly from her notes from her Alternate Reality Survival unit. They'd had to memorize a lot in that class, since you never knew what you'd have access to once you fell into an alternate reality.

Re: Meet Your Big/Little Sibling [Spring 2016]

[omgnochecksyet]

"... That sounds confusing," Eric finally managed after a few seconds of stunned silence.