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

Over on this part of the school lawn... yeah, it was still chilly. Stupid winter, doing its winter thing. But there were plenty of chairs and tables for people watching, feasting on warm foods and drinks, and generally attempting to meet the new folks!

[OCD is 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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Norman huffed a little laugh and ducked his head.

"I was doing pretty good until I met Sidon," he admitted. "Which... sounds terrible. Sidon's great. He was also kind of unexpected, that's all."

As were at least ninety percent of the ghosts that were wandering around. He was pretty sure that one over there was just straight up an angry tomato. He didn't even know vegetables could have ghosts.

"Yyyyup," Tip agreed. "Sidon surprised me, and my world has squid people." That was one way to describe the Boov, anyway. She offered her hand. "I'm Tip."

"Norman," and he was reaching to shake her hand, giving her an awkward, but pleasant, smile. "It's nice to meet you, Tip."

She seemed a little less judgey than the last girl that came over to talk to him, at least!

"So, uh, squid people?"

Asked the boy who talked to ghosts.

Tip tried.

"Aliens, technically," Tip said. "Called the Boov. They took over my Earth. It was a whole thing."

"Oh!" Norman actually sat up in shock at that, eyes widening a little. "You... I mean. I know better than to ask really? But."

He flailed about for words for a moment, which didn't involve actual flailing so much as just sitting there with his mouth open, kind of at a loss.

"I just mean, I have a lot of questions."

And no clue which one to start with.

"And I'm one of the more normal people around here," Tip said, amused. "Alright, let's hear 'em. If I don't want to answer something, I'll just tell you."

"Okay, that sounds good," Norman replied, a little distractedly. "Uh. Alright, first, you're... here? I mean, the alien invasion thing didn't keep you from coming here, obviously."

He had plenty of questions about the island, too, but figuring out how to frame them would be harder.

"You know that's not really a question, right?" Tip asked. "I mean, unless you think I'm a figment of your imagination. Which I might have to be insulted by."

Norman hesitated for a moment at that, and then smiled faintly, exhaling all at once in a small, wry laugh.

"Oh, no, I think I'd know if you were a figment of my imagination," he replied. And wow, had he been given cause to wonder, while he'd been growing up. "Sorry. I just meant... You're here, on the island? What does that mean about the way things are where you're from?"

"Thaaaaaat my mom still has enough money to send me to boarding school," Tip said. "You're really bad at this. It's way too easy for me to answer your questions without actually telling you anything at all."

"Oh my god," Norman muttered, though there was a little laugh in his voice as he reached up to run a hand through his hair.

Once again, it just sort of settled back into place. His hair was a damn traitor.

"Okay, maybe I'll ask about something else." He paused, glanced around, and then with all the effort of a kid trying not to sound like a total weirdo, he settled on, "Do, uh, weird things ever show up here? I mean, not just people. Not that Sidon's weird, just not what I'm used to. I mean, more..."

Okay, no, he was flailing around for words again. He grimaced, a quiet acknowledgment that he really was bad at this.

Tip laughed. "All the time," she said, then, throwing him a bone, added "there were giant evil slugs wandering around a few weeks ago."

What? That was an actual detail!

The relief on Norman's face was practically incandescent. Or maybe that was the faint blush spreading across his cheeks as he ducked his head in thanks for that bone she'd tossed him.

"Giant evil slugs," he repeated. "Yeah, that sounds about right. People were killing them, I'm guessing?"

It seemed like a fair assumption. No reason.

"I mean, they were evil, so yeah," Tip said. "We have a policy around here. If something tries to kill us, we try to kill it right back."

Yeah. Norman could see that with just a quick glance around the place.

Wow.

"Huh," he replied. And then hedged, "So, how often is 'all the time,' then?"

"Weird stuff, could happen pretty much any day. Especially on weekends. Things trying to kill us only happens about three times or so a year though."

Norman fell silent for a few beats too long to not be awkward. And then he sighed. Heavily.

"My Grandma told me to come here becase she thought it would be good for me," he muttered. "The brochure didn't say anything about evil slugs."

"I mean, we all keep coming back," Tip said. "And not all of us have to. So the good stuff pretty well outweighs the bad."

"Okay," Norman replied, shifting his weight a little, looking faintly uncomfortable. "So, there's good stuff, too. Good. That's good to know."

There was good stuff. Sometimes you had to dig deep to find it. Sometimes it didn't make up for the bad stuff. But at least there was something good, all the same.

"So... what's the good stuff?"

"What, you want a list?" Tip snorted, shaking her head. "Alright, let's see. Everyone here is at least a little bit weird. Like, one of my friends was replaced by a robot duplicate when she came back from summer break. And my sword teacher from another galaxy completely. Even the normal people are weird, just because they're normal and no one else is. I think the library might actually have literally every book ever published, and the librarian is an actual wizard who dresses like a noir detective. And if you can get through the bureaucracy, Portalocity can take you almost anywhere in the multiverse for relatively cheap. Any of those sound good to you?"

Norman followed all of that, nodding a little with every point. And when Tip was through, he nodded again, for good measure.

"It all does," he admitted. "Multiverse? That's... exactly what it sounds like, I'm guessing? The reason everyone here is so different?"

"Yup. That's why my Earth doesn't have the same history as yours -- or anyone else's here. It's pretty fascinating, actually. I spent a weekend as a multiversal anthroplogist last year."

"But only a weekend?" Norman might want to continue sitting down, if this conversation was going to start covering that the island didn't just summon weird stuff, it also occasionally turned people into weird stuff, too. "That's a pretty short career run."

"I was in my thirties, at the time."

Tip knew exactly what that sounded like, Norman, and she wasn't sorry.

"You'll get used to people saying stuff like that after awhile, too." She leaned forwards. "So, my turn: what brings you to Fandom?"

Norman's mouth was hanging open a little, and while he was a half-second away from protesting, her question made him shut it again and just kind of tilt his head for a moment instead.

"Me? Oh. I..." He quirked a tiny smile. "A brochure wound up at our house a couple of weeks back, and instead of throwing it out, I sat down and read it with my Grandma. She thought it would be a good opportunity to meet people." A beat. "And when I put it like that, I sound kind of hopeless. Great..."

Going to boarding school for the social opportunities. Good, good.

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