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

[bigdamnprincipal]

Good weather had fallen over Fandom this morning, so the picnic conditions were looking fantastic. The bonfire was there for good measure, along with the makings of s'mores, because it was almost truly summer, right?

There was plenty of food, and there were tables and chairs set up all across the lawn with varying degrees of glitter stuck to them. Everything was ready for another welcome picnic!

[OCD-free! Welcome the new folks gently! Or not!]

Comments

[thatsmysword]

Henry dreamed of Skalitz again. Of green fields set ablaze, tavern benches turned to charcoal, pointed helmets and cruelty in dark eyes. He dreamed, in his little cot by Pirkstein Castle, and--

He opened his eyes, expecting to be staring up at a wooden ceiling. Instead, he saw the sky.

"... Did I go drinking last night and forget about it?" he mumbled, sitting up and staring at the grass.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Hey," Arden said, squatting down next to him. "You good, friend?" She offered a cup of water. "You fall? Or...?"

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia was keeping a reasonable distance just in case he was inebriated, but she felt she should check, "Good sir, are you well?"

[even_bigger_teeth]

When she was last here, Luma had fallen in love with and bought a dress, not really expecting to ever have anywhere to actually wear it. Well, she supposed now it was her welcome picnic dress.

She skirted around the edges, at first, feeling nervous and feeling angry at herself for feeling nervous. She wanted to go find Eleanor, but also wanted Eleanor to find her, not the other way around. Eventually, she made it over to the food to see what they had to offer and felt another pang of regret, realizing that hunting here might be a problem.

Fine. It was fine. This was a good idea and not a terrible one that she was going to regret, and she had nothing to be nervous about, dammit!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Oooh! Another new face! Arden had missed Luma's guests at PW because she'd been off having very dramatic times herself, so she had no idea that Luma was anything other than a pretty newbie here for the summer.

"Hi!" she said, holding a plate that she was piling high with food. "Welcome to Fandom!"

[owmytoe]

It had been a very interesting few days, and if he was being honest, Jag was a little glad for the distraction of one of the picnics he'd heard so much about. He also couldn't actually remember ever being at a picnic before now.

The boys were running around nearby and Jag's attention was split between assessing the other people at this event and making sure his children didn't plow into any of said people.

[solo_sword]

Jaina took a seat next to him, greeting him with, "Apparently we're teaching a class."

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor had really grown to love the welcome picnics, especially as a reminder of just how different things were at Fandom than at St. Brigid's, where new semesters were marked with strict orientations and drawn out masses. But here, there was always a sense of community, in basically throwing a party , for new students and teachers and old ones alike, and people of the town, too. Like how she'd wanted to do with the people of Winterport. Maybe she should be taking more notes...

For now, though, she'd be happy and content with just grabbing some food and people watching.

Especially since that was going to eventually come to an abrupt halt very soon.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"We have an important mission today," Arden informed Eleanor, looking grim. She held up a bag of raisins. "I spotted a squirrel trying to add this to the potato salad. Goddess only knows what other food crimes we might have to stop today."

For the good of the newbies!

[suitably_heroic]

Jack had a portal scheduled for around noon, but that left him with some time to get out here, dressed in one of many Metallica-t-shirts. Grab a few sandwiches. Take a seat somewhere, and see if anyone familiar showed up.

He kind of hoped not.

[deathsmajesty]

Incredibly rude to familiar faces, wow.

"Jack," Liliana said with a smile. "Hello, darling. Are we running off today to grift and card shark our way through...what was it? Nar Shadaa?"

IT WOULD BE SO FUN, JACK, C'MON.

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto might not be teaching this semester, so that he could focus on Liz and the new baby and Noctra and the four other jobs he had, but the welcome picnic was not to be missed! Especially since it meant free food and letting his hyperactive daughter just let out some energy by running around and hopefully tiring herself out for a nice easy nap later.

And, of course, hoping for the opportunity to get a lot of good candid shots of friends and family while they were here, too!

[deathsmajesty]

"No further tank-related tragedies, then?" Liliana asked, watching Noctra run around.

Gaea there were a number of small children about this year. It was starting to look like one of those weekends.

[stykera]

Yesterday had been spent stomping around on the moon in a giant robot ferret.

Today would be spent on the island, barring any major surprises. He liked going to the picnics, just in case someone he recognized might appear and to see people he knew here.

And the food. The food was always a good thing. The glitter was just a given.

He had a plate full of food and a spot at a table to eat and watch what was happening around him.

[thatwaslucky]

"Happy picnic," Rey greeted him.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Obviously Summer was going to be here to try and scope out any newbies and get some free food, even if she wasn't teaching this semester, either. It was pretty much a necessity at this point, really.

And hey! She wasn't even hung over for this one! So that was nice.

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm not sure if there are new faces here or if I haven't gotten out enough," Rey told her.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey was attempting a s'more. Mostly what was happening was that she kept accidentally setting a marshmallow on fire. She was people watching, okay, distractions happened.

[beautiful_boc]

Boc really was growing more comfortable with these things. Sure, he was still keeping to the outskirts and shadows and using his smaller stature to hope he was well hidden when he slipped over to the food tables to grab something to munch on, but he wasn't as reluctant to skittish about it.

Once he'd gathered a good, bountiful plate of food, he scampered on over to a tree to sit underneath, getting comfortable and setting it in front of him to enjoy, hopefully nice and out of the way where he wasn't bothering anyone too much by his presence.

[throughaphase]

Kitty figured she'd head out to the picnic, let Lexi run around, and what was actually happening was that Lexi only wanted to sit in her lap under a tree. So fine, that was what was happening today.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio had arrived with a shirt on, but it was only a matter of time, right, before it somehow went missing? The real question was just what the hold up was.

But beshirted or otherwise, he was here to eat and chat it up with familiar faves, maybe some new ones, and definitely hit up that campfire and those s'mores.

[deathsmajesty]

"Gladio," Liliana greeted. She hadn't seen him since before Innistrad and certainly not since a certain camping trip, so this might be interesting. "Have you had a chance to explain the limitations on what you mean by Cup Noodle™ being for everybody?"

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia? Miss a social event? Sounded fake. She had dressed in one of her new spring frocks, positively slathered herself in SPF, and was carrying a parasol to keep the sun off, since those seemed to be rather more in fashion than bonnets.

She did so miss bonnets, though.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Hey Lydia," Arden said, coming over with a cup of tea for Lydia. Yeah, okay, it was a paper cup, because this was a picnic, but it was the thought that counted. "Your dress is so pretty!"

It was basically summer, so Arden was once again in her uniform of tiny denim shorts and a tanktop.

[chef_chocobro]

Never one to want to miss an opportunity to enjoy a nice day and do some people listening, Ignis was there for some good food and hopefully even better company.

He did naturally gravitate toward the campfire, though, and might even be considering a s'more.

[deathsmajesty]

Well, for better company, he simply had to search no further than his arm, for there Liliana was. "You can take the man out of the kitchen..." she teased.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden was staying well away from the campfire and any s'mores making that might be going on. She was here to spot and greet new students, not have a panic attack because her guts refused to recognize what her logical brain knew.

Besides, there was plenty of other food for her to enjoy! She wasn't even missing out!

[x_wondrous_x]

Stewart had to remind himself that if he was going to stay here, he should actually...ugh...go out and be social for things like this, and so he reluctantly dragged himself out from the Groovy Tunes basement, loaded up on the free food, and found a spot to sit that didn't have him hissing at the sun every five seconds when it managed to actually shine on him.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

A shadow fell across him, Arden standing between him and the sun. Totally for the dramatic lighting, obviously. "Hey," she said, giving him a smile. "Long time no see. How you been?"

[napking]

Was it really a welcome picnic if Gray wasn't A) upholding the tradition of shirtlessness and/or B) asleep in a heap in some random location? Probably, but for today, at least, those two factors were solidly fulfilled.

Please feel free to step over or around the sleeping Nephilim. Or give him a good poke. It's up to you. He might wake up!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Do Nephilim get sunburnt?" Arden had to ask, okay?

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana didn't often bother with the welcome picnic, but she was teaching this semester, so she supposed she could make the effort for this one. That decision was considerably helped by not staying up all night in her workroom the night before.

[stykera]

"Hello, Liliana," Stark said as he approached.

"How have you been?"

[unusual_sith]

Lana was happy to hang out and meet any new students who might show up. And eat a burger. She was rather growing to like beef. (Cows didn't seem nearly as unhygienic as bantha or nerf, which may have helped.)

She was enjoying the sunny weather in jeans, ankle boots, and a grey tank top, though her Earth-standard belt still had her lightsaber clipped to it; look, when new people were going to show up, you had to be careful.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon was here. And he'd made a point of actually feeding the day before, so while he looked his standard amount of tired, he didn't actually look strung out.

And his clothes weren't rumpled! ...actually, in his slacks and button-down, he was probably a tad overdressed for a picnic, but look, he was going to try for professional, just in case there were new people here that didn't know him yet.

[solo_sword]

Jaina was at least less tense than she was yesterday. Maybe it was because the picnic was something so familiar.

She was sitting and watching in case she knew people, too. You never knew here.

[sharp_man]

Another semester, another chance for Hannibal to get out and meet people. And he was actually teaching again now, so here he was!

With his own food and drink, of course. And mostly people watching.

[seriesofbaddecisions]

Sabine really hadn't been getting out much. Maybe the picnic was the right place to fix that. At the very least she could people watch.