Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, Saturday, All Day

[bigdamnprincipal]

If anyone in Fandom could control the weather, they weren't doing a particularly good job with it today. It was quite hot and sticky outside, so the lawn was filled with as many pop-up tents as could be acquired to provide some well-needed shade. There were plenty of cool drinks and moddable food that would hopefully survive the heat--it might not have felt like summer would be ending any time soon, but it was time to celebrate the coming fall nonetheless!

[Flying OCD-free! Have at it and stay cool!]

Comments

[wildgalegirl]

Free food? Lots of people? Charlie was here. Of course. Guitar on her back, plate full of food, she was absolutely happy to chat.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon was supposed to be here, so Jon was here. Looking only a little tired and harried, and with a fluffy white cat lounging in a way that said she refused to be owned, but she didn't mind his company.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Okay. Wow. There were so many people here. Sure, not 'so many' on a scale of the Triangle, but 'so many' on a scale of welcoming picnic. Definitely 'so many' on a scale of people Arden was expected to interact with.

She was just going to drift over to the table and help herself to the buffet. Seemed like a good way to preoccupy her hands. And also she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday, so food was a welcome sight.

"Uh, anybody seen the sweet tea?"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"The bags and water are at that end," Jon pointed out. "There are packets of sugar and other sweeteners."

Look, he was English. He heard "tea" and was trying to be helpful.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden looked up at him in horror. "They have unsweetened tea here?"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon was used to looks of horror, but the reason for this one took him aback. "Erm...isn't most of it...oh." The Eye decided to be helpful. Well, "helpful".

"Well, um..." He tried very hard not to let his own horror of what sweet tea was show on his face. (He wasn't much good at it.) "They might have what you're looking for the next table over, with the sodas."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It's okay, John. You were allowed to be wrong. All tea is bad and deserves to go in the garbage.

She looked over to the tea. Narrowed her eyes. "That looks like it was made with Lipton," she declared. Judgily.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Er...Maybe." Look, Jon hadn't made the stuff, okay? And he was not about to stand up for anyone who did that to tea which was generally a yummy brew. "You could, um. You could brew it hot and pour it over ice, I suppose." He winced to suggest it, but it seemed like the lesser of evils, at least.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Falsehood.

Arden immediately shook her head. This is what you get when you run away from home. Hardship and deprivation. "No thank you," she said. "I'll just add sweet tea fixings to my grocery list." And as God as her witness, she'd never go thirsty again.

Right! This was a public event, thrown by other people. Time to remember her manners. "There is a lot of new stuff here to try anyway," she added politely. "Hello, by the way. My name is Arden Finch. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Jonathan Sims. A pleasure, Miss Finch. I'm a teacher here. Welcome to Fandom." Thus ended his ability to make smalltalk.

"The Turtle and Canary in town sells everything, so I'm certain you'll be able to find whatever you need. And Summer can order things if they're not in. Erm." He looked around and pointed. "That's Summer."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

She looked to where John was pointing and saw a slim blonde woman talking to a man...doing some kind of Alexandre Dumas cosplay?

This was college, she supposed. Why not? Maybe Fandom U had a thriving drama department.

"Thank you, Mr. Sims," she said. "I got a map of town in my acceptance letter, but it didn't explain what anything was, just listed the names of the shops. I'd figured Turtle and Canary was a pet shop."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Ah, I can see how that would be confusing. There is no pet store on the island, but we do have a shelter where you can get a pet or anything you might need for them. It's called Furnado. It's run by Prince Sidon. He's, erm..."

Jon hesitated, hoping he wasn't about to break any brains here. "There." He pointed.

"Also I have a cat if you need to, um. To cuddle. Something." Issa might even allow it.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Well, Arden certainly looked surprised enough when she spotted Sidon - but a particularly perceptive man might notice it wasn't exactly the right kind of startled. It wasn't the shock of someone who was suddenly realizing that humans weren't the only sapient races in the world, but someone being faced with a sapient non-human that she absolutely could not ID.

But when she spoke, she gave off a very different impression. "What--?" She looked up at John with very big eyes. "...I think I may have gone too long without eating. Because I can't possibly be seeing what I think I am."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Yeah, Jon wasn't good at nuances which is not capitalized, omg fingers. "He's, um. A zora," Jon said, a bit apologetically. "If he looks like a large red shark man with another shark on his head, you are absolutely seeing what you think you are."

He frowned a little. "If you're not seeing that, then perhaps something else is going on."

[needsacatchphrase]

Well, Jane wasn't really the one to ask about sweet tea, but she could try her best to bluff on through it if necessary.

And she was keeping an eye out for someone new here and, what do you know, Arden fit the bill. "Arden Finch?" she ventured.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

There was a moment's pause when Jane's only reply was a tightening of Arden's shoulders into a hunch.

No. It's okay. You're supposed to be here. This isn't weird.

And then she slowly relaxed, turning slightly to face the new person. "Ma'am?" she said with a faint Southern accent. "That'd be me."

[needsacatchphrase]

"Hi!" Jane said brightly, offering a hand to shake. "Jane Foster. I'm your faculty advisor."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh," Arden said slowly. And then brightened. "Oh! A faculty advisor! I have one of those now! Hi!" With a grin, she reached over and took Jane's hand, shaking it with enthusiasm. "I'm Arden! Which you know. Right. Hello anyway, lovely to meet you."

[needsacatchphrase]

"It was a guess," Jane admitted with a conspiratorial grin. "It's a small place for the most part."

That somehow had a decent amount of people who were friends with her ex. Not weird at all!

"But it can be, uh, weird? If you're not used to some things."

Like aliens. Or magic. Or the occasional building destroying fight.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I've already caught a little bit of the weird on the bus ride over," Arden said carefully. "Are y'all from the other side of town, then?"

[needsacatchphrase]

"Other side of town?" Jane asked, frowning a little in confusion.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden shook her head. "Never mind," she said quickly. "A saying where I'm from. You know...kind of like...not from around here."

Nailed it.

[needsacatchphrase]

"Well, yes and no," Jane said, wobbling her head from side to side as she considered it. "Where I'm from, well, I didn't exist for five years because of some genocidal lunatic from space. But that's a home thing, not a here thing."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

You know what, this seemed like an excellent time for some quality what the fuck? blinking.

[needsacatchphrase]

"It's fine. It's fine," Jane said in a way that meant it really wasn't, but she was just cheerfully powering on through life. Ask her about the weird hand in the Indian Ocean sometime! Or don't. It was... confusing. But that was Marvel for you! "But that's the sort of weird I'm approaching this place from. If that helps?"