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

[bigdamnprincipal]

The weather was warm, the food smelled good, and there was a good chance the new folks were a little extra glittery. What else could go into a perfect day for the picnic?

[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!]

Comments

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

Norman nodded a bit.

"And up until this year, I never really felt like I was too far out of my depth," he replied. "But with the vampires, and then the whole summer...?" He sighed. "I thought about going home again, but I have one year left. What am I going to do back home, anyway? Nobody would believe my reason for going back."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"A little too weird for them?" Keyleth guessed. "Well, I'm glad you did decide to stick around. Even if you would've been absolutely within your rights to go home if that would've been best for you."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"Most things are a little too weird for them," Norman agreed with a small shrug. "They're still getting used to me, and I've been weird my whole life."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"Well, I don't think you're weird, if that helps?" offered Keyleth.

Keyleth, you were from a world where things like gibbering mouthers and gelatinous cubes exist. Your concept of weird was doomed to be skewed horribly from the start.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"It helps me," Norman decided, laughing softly. "I don't think there's much that can help them, though."

Sure, they were a little more open to making room for Grandma on the couch for family movie nights, but his dad was still prone to weirdly awkward attempts at being 'open minded' about whether there might be ghosts in the room to chat to, when just asking would have done the trick.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"Short of actually spending a few months here themselves, maybe?" Keyleth grinned wryly. "Unfortunately probably not."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"And nobody wants that," Norman said, gravely. "I'm pretty sure my dad would spend at least the first three months complaining about how ridiculous and impossible everything is, and my mom would spend it going around and comparing notes about interdimensional horoscopes or something."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

Keyleth laughed a little bit. "So no chance it might end up being good for them, huh? You never know!"

Yeah, probably not.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"Well," Norman mused, "maybe some time around here would finally teach dad that you don't need a screwdriver in order to change a lightbulb."

... Perry Babcock was a special soul.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"That someone would not be me," Keyleth said, "since I didn't know that until just now either, but thanks for the free life lesson!"

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"It's an important life lesson," Norman noted, "unless you like being electrocuted? It's kind of a wonder my father isn't a ghost yet, too."

Norman loved his family. He really did.

But he'd be the first to call them kinda dumb.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"There isn't really electricity where I'm from," Keyleth replied, a bit sheepishly, "so it's probably a really good thing you did tell me that."

Neither she nor Jules would likely be the best choices for the job if a lightbulb in their dorm room needed to be changed. The More You Know!

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"Yeah, I can picture that going... not well," Norman replied, grimacing a little. "Tell you what... if you ever have trouble with any electric stuff, let me know. I might not always be able to fix it, but I should at least be able to tell you if something is a job for a professional if I can't."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"Sure! I mean, I don't know how often it'd come up, but I can do that." Keyleth flashed him a smile. "I'd really appreciate the help, too. The only thing I know about electricity is lightning, and I'm a long way off from being able to control the weather."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"You and me both, there," Norman replied, giving a bit of a lopsided smile. "With the weather thing."

Presumably, if Aggie had been able to do it after dying, he ought to be able to do it while alive.

But, uh, Aggie also had three centuries of pain and anger to work that stuff out with.

So...

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"Wait, really?" And now Keyleth was staring at him a little bit wide-eyed, in an awed sort of way. "That's a thing you might be able to do?"

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"I, um, I'm not sure," Norman admitted, after a pause. "Mostly I haven't gotten very far past making light and drawing summoning runes for ghosts I'm on a first-name basis with..."

Fidget. Fidget.

"But if I'm anything like this other person I knew who was like me, then maybe? Eventually?"

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"That would make sense," Keyleth decided after a moment of thinking it over and chewing on her thumbnail. "It'd be so useful, too. If you ever figure it out, I'd love to know, okay?"

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"I'll let you in on the secret if I ever manage to get that far past 'glowy lights,'" Norman promised with a little smile. "I'm not entirely sure I ever will, but... it would be pretty cool, right?"

Maybe?

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"I'll be rooting for you," Keyleth said, with a double thumbs-up to emphasize it. "I'd offer to help, but I'm not sure how magic works differently in your world than it does in mine, and that could just get . . . messy."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"That's fair," Norman replied. "Better safe than sorry. I had a teacher actually from Earth for a while, but he's not living on the island anymore...

And 'living' was a pretty loosely-used term for what Bob did anywhere.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

"Well . . ." Keyleth chewed on her lower lip and looked contemplative for a moment or two. "Maybe you could show me what you do know, sometime? The specifics might be different, but there could be some general principles that would still help. Focusing techniques, or something like that."

Not that she thought she was remotely qualified to teach, but the urge to be a supportive friend won out here.

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

"Actually, that would be great," Norman replied, smiling a little more. "At this point what I've got to work with is... mostly just books, you know? From the shop. The ones that Bob didn't set aside as total trash, though I'm still not convinced that they're all relevant to at least somebody, somewhere. The whole all the realities thing, you know?"

He smiled crookedly at that.

"Any little bit helps, even if it's just stuff to help focus. I get nervous."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[goldfishontherocks]

Keyleth laughed a little bit, shakily.

"Oh, I definitely know that feeling. Yeah. I'd love to help you out with that, at least."

Re: General Mingling [Fall 2019]

[always_someone]

Norman smiled. And then held a finger up in the air and, in a faint, green-glowing light, drew a simple flower.

It wasn't really able to go anywhere, but look, Keyleth! He could give you flowers, too!

"Thank you. I mean that. Thanks so much, Keyleth."

Because his direction otherwise mostly kind of hinged on things he'd been told by people who weren't here, and trial and error.

Sometimes, mostly error.