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

[bigdamnprincipal]

It always felt like a bit of a stretch to call an event in January a "picnic," and the weather today wasn't helping with how seasonably cold it was outside. Thankfully, there was plenty of warm food to keep everyone toasty, along with as many carafes as The Perk would offer, filled with hot water for tea, light and dark roast coffee, and hot chocolate.

It was time to welcome in another new semester, everyone!

[Going OCD-free this time, stay warm together!]

Comments

[not_a_haint]

Caleb had done his homework, at least as much as could be done with just a set of encyclopedias.

"We are...well I don't know the distance but we're a little off the western coast of the bay near Baltimore." Maybe he was more lost than that though. "Baltimore Maryland." Might as well be England for all Caleb knew. There were far too few mountains here.

[sairis]

A bay. So, not the sea.

"Where is Baltimore Maryland?"

He was so lost.

[not_a_haint]

And now of course Caleb was second guessing his own grasp of geography. Most kids he knew might not be expected to know that information.

He closed his eyes to try to visualize the map. "Uh lessee, it's north o' Washington DC, south o' New York...there's a peninsula east o' here but I dunno anything about towns or cities there. Suppose there's some.

"South o' Maryland is Virginia...I think Pennsylvania is north?" Was New England a state?

Mun apologizes into the ether if he's being unkind to the educational system of rural Appalachia

[sairis]

"I don't know any of those places!" Sairis exclaimed, dismayed. "Where are they in relation to Lamont or Mistala?"

[not_a_haint]

"Uh, I don't know either of those places. I grew up kinda isolated, geography wasn't a big priority in my schoolin'. I'm sorry I can't be more help."

[sairis]

Sairis grimaced. "I don't know much past my own end of the continent, either. Damn."

[not_a_haint]

"Where were you tryin' to get to?"

[sairis]

"Chireese," Sairis answered. "It should have been one night's ride; I'm not sure how I ended up here."

Well, there had been magic involved, but some people were wary of that, so he'd keep that part to himself.

[not_a_haint]

"Yeah, that doesn't sound familiar either, sorry. Silly of me to ask probably. At least there's food?"

[sairis]

"If it's to be trusted," Sairis said. He wondered if he could chance a small spell to check it for traps.

[not_a_haint]

Caleb was no expert, though he'd helped prepare breakfast when it was his turn, but everything seemed okay to him.

"It smells okay."

He'd been wary of loading up his plate too much though. He didn't want to take more than his share.

[sairis]

"Mm," Sairis hummed noncommittally. It did; that didn't mean it didn't have poison or iron in it. And some of it looked strange, even if there were more of it than he'd ever seen.

[not_a_haint]

Oh maybe he had allergies! That was a whole can of worms sometimes.

"Maybe we can find the cook and you can ask if there's anything in there that your allergic too."

[sairis]

"Oh, that's fine." If there was anything in there, he doubted it would be due to the chef.

"I can eat later."

[not_a_haint]

Totally fair.

"I hope you find where you're lookin' for. Oh, this is a school, they must have an atlas or somethin'."

[sairis]

Sairis perked up. "That would be really useful! I don't suppose you know where the library is?"

[not_a_haint]

"Shoot, I just got here myself. I don't even know who're the students and who're the teachers." He wished he could be of more help.

[sairis]

Sairis looked around, taking in the people.

"I can't tell, either," he admitted. Whatever happened to robes and tassels and things? Sure they were old-fashioned, but they did make this sort of thing easier.

[not_a_haint]

"It doesn't help that it's so cold. The 'face of academia' could be hidin' behind a scarf." He'd read 'face of academia' in a pulp once and the phrase had stuck with him.

[sairis]

Sairis managed a small smile at that. "It's certainly much colder here than it was at home." Further north, maybe? It was a start.

[not_a_haint]

"I'm certainly glad I got proper boots at least." And he definitely owed the Walker sisters another letter of thanks for the coat. "Come to that, I should finish the food I got 'fore it gets cold. Dunno how it's lasted this long."

[sairis]

"Right." Sairis took that to mean he should be moving on. "Enjoy it, then. It was nice to meet you."

[not_a_haint]

"You too, best o' luck with your situation."

He realized he'd never asked the man his name, but he also didn't expect to see him again.

[sairis]

What were the odds?