Outdoor Fun

[queenisme1]

A note on one of the tables advertises a semi-spontaneous event just out the door.

You are invited!

Who?: All loft visitors!

What?:  A picnic

When?:  Today!

Where?: outside, open the door to World's End and look to the right.

Why?:  Free food?

It's a beautiful day in World's End,  a clear blue sky and tiny fluffy clouds.  There is a slight chill

Comments

[heart_of_adc]

Tyrone Albrecht adjusted his glases for the thirteenth time that day. He wasn't sure how he got here. He was supposed to be on the Midway eating his typical lunch of croisants, salumi and swiss with coffee. But the spread did look appetizing. The lean archeologist decided to try the picnic.

But the more he looked arround at the people there, the less certain he was he belonged.

[raggedyemmy]

Emery Thibodeax, of late Emery Baliot had been to only two of these sort of functions, but she had noticed that they seemed to attract new people, unused to the peculates of loft functions. The man in front of her appeared to be such a person. She tapped him on the shoulder.

Emery was a short blonde woman in a navy blue uniform. She tilted her head and asked. "Pardon. Are you new here?", all the while trying to keep her smile small so the man did not think she was merely teasing him.

yay! Someone's talking to the poor young man!

[heart_of_adc]

Tyrone was startled by the tap on the shoulder and almost dropped his plate. Human interaction of any sort was always awkward but with a few close associates and his father. Neither of which were here to be a calming factor.

"D'wah!" he yelped trying to regain composure. "Um... yes, I am new here." He fought to overcome his instint to keep his face turned away and looked the young woman in the eyes. "What is this place? I was at the University of Chicago a moment ago."

[raggedyemmy]

Emery grinned. Newcomers were so easy to spot. She took a seat beside the young man to make conversing more convient.

"This? This is a picnic. But inside, it's the Loft. To my knowlege it is not anywhere near Chigago."

Emery hadn't spent much time in World's end proper and didn't know to name it, but she had spent a good deal of time in the Loft. "It's a kind of...place between places. People from different times, differnt planets, different storybooks and things show up there. I met Sherlock Holmes once. That kind of thing. Don't worry, the food's safe, at any rate."

[heart_of_adc]

"I'm aware that this is a picnic," Tyrone said matter-of-factly. "I meant this... land. How did I get here and how may I return home?"

He paused. This is a picnic. A social function. And one he probably wasn't invited to. "Is this open to the public?"

[raggedyemmy]

"Oh don't worry about that. Emery said, waving her hand "You just think about home and open the door and there it goes. Or if not home, where you want to go more or less."

She glanced at the others at the picnic. "I think the girl over there organized it. She wrote on the invitation everyone was welcome though. I shouldn't think its any trouble for you to stay and eat and socialize a bit."

She turned back to him and put a hand to her mouth to cover a giggle. "My manners are getting worse every day, aren't they?" She offered a hand. "I'm Emery Baliot. How do you do Mr...?"

[heart_of_adc]

The archaeologist nodded in understanding. It was similar to the TARDIS in Doctor Who, but with more control over where one ended up. "That's a relief to know. Thank you."

He shook the young woman's hand briefly, as if afraid one would break the other's wrist if he held for too long. "Tyrone Albrecht. And I'm glad I didn't crash a private affair." His attention then turned to her uniform. "Are you an officer of the law here?"

[raggedyemmy]

Emery exploded into laughter at the question. "Officer of the law?" she repeated. "I'm better at breaking them!"

She tilted her head and asked "What year are you from?" She sat up straighter and smoothed out the uniform. It was a navy jacket over a long skirt with a blouse and a tie. Her hat she had left behind, but one who examined her closely could see the ghosts of bloodstains on the sleeves and bits of the skirt. "I am curious...how long it takes for people to stop recognizing this. Anyway, I drive an ambulance in France. Yourself?"

[heart_of_adc]

Tyrone tilted his head in curiousity at Emery's question. "...2004. I'm an archaeologist, working on my doctorate. Forgive me for not recognising your uniform. Lately, if it has nothing to do with the Orient, I acknowlegde very little."

Seeing her straighten her uniform made him self-aware of hsi own clothes. He pulled at the sleeves of his wrinkle proof shirt and dusted off his slacks. "Are you from another era, yourself?"

[raggedyemmy]

Though she had managed to wash out the blood stains, wrinkles and patched spots Emery's clothing showed no sign of her being able to be picky about the company she kept in terms of fashion.

"The Great War." Emery replied. It was so strange to her that something so absolutely encompassing should not be thought about and known about for centuries...but of course, what did she know of any uniforms of a century before. It was hardly surprising that the man would not recognize the uniform of so small a player as an ambulance driver.

"Nineteen seventeen to be exact. " she waved a hand dismissively, having said that. "But that's all dull. What exactly in the Orient do you study?"

[heart_of_adc]

Tyrone's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the words Great War. "Really? You are a living peice of history, then. I hope you don't mind if I ask you some questions about your experiences. And I salute you for surviving with your good humor intact. Although I guess being able to escape here for breaks would help with that."

He wondered if he should tell her that a second Great War had - or in her case, would - occur not twenty years later

[raggedyemmy]

"A living piece of history." Emery repeated. "You certainly know how to make a girl feel old!"

She sighed and looked at her hands. "I have been in France a year and a half now, but I haven't got much worth telling about it. I said it's dull. But I really only found the loft a few weeks ago in my time, though it seems like longer...but that's another story."

She put a hand under her chin and listened as he told about his research. "...So you are looking for evidence of a great culture from ancient times that we all came from?" she laughs as he accuses himself of babbling "Babble. It's so funny you should say that word. It makes me think about the Tower of Babble somehow, what you were talking about."

[heart_of_adc]

"Did I insult you? I'm sorry. I just love learning about history in general, and to know someone who actually lived through that time and has fresh memories of it would be any historian's dream." He smiled for the first time. "If you don't mind, I'd love to interview you about your experiences of the war one day."

Tyrone chuckled. "The word babble does have its origins in the name of Babelon and its tower. This theory posits that the foundation of Babelon was the begining of the split between the world's cultures." He stopped agin as he heard a voice ask if he was new in town. "If you'll excuse me. Nice to meet you." He reluctantly turned his shoulder towards the voice.

[dainty_ofcourse]

Senri looks up mid-bite, eyeballing the stranger. He's parked on the corner of one blanket and a healthy plate of food is steadily (but daintily!) disappearing. The last bit of salad is polished off before he speaks up.

"New in town?" The teasing drawl is less successful when mangled by his Japanese accent.

[heart_of_adc]

At that question, Tyrone reluctantly looks over his shoulder to see the slender - might one say, dainty? - Japanese man. Ignorant of the tease in this man's voice he replies "Yes I am. Are you native here?"

[dainty_ofcourse]

"Not yet. Just a regular." Senri twists and points at the Loft -- a renovated barn/cafe/pub/hangout. "The honey rolls are good if you're here for the picnic." A glance around because he could have sworn that he had two or three or five right here... Funny, they're all gone. "There should be more in the baskets." So dainty.