Parents' Weekend Meet and Greet- Friday afternoon- The Park

[not_a_moonie]

The day that would greet Fandom's visitors was sunny with just a hint of fall crispness in the air -- perfect weather for reunions, or for almost anything else. A large tent set up in the park had been decorated with balloons, streamers, and a few minor drifts of glitter. Of course there was plenty of food, as well as tables, chairs and shadowy

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Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_a_moonie]

For the less social or more sunlight-averse among the guests, and for students trying to hide from their parents.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[fewerexplosions]

Was her mother here? Goddess.

Liara would not say she was proud about the way she was hiding underneath the picnic table. No, it was more out of shame, if anything.

But still. "Oh Goddess," she mumbled to herself.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[pulseof_chaos]

Eschewing the more open areas as well as the food tables, Caius parked himself under a tree, and scoured the area for Yeul.

Despite himself, he was a bit anxious. None of it showed, but given that her visions had begun again, he felt he was well entitled to being… off-kilter. This was not a new cycle, but he hated every time.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

Anders was of two minds about the picnic. On the one hand, if some Templars or part of the Circle hierarchy came to claim him, he hardly wanted to be welcoming them with open arms. On the other, seeing them early and in a crowd limited the chances they'd corner him when he didn't expect it.

He guardedly took a place near the edge of the group and tried to blend in, which would have been easier if he hadn't been carrying his staff.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[the_family_li]

Hey! Cute boy! Sarah had snuck away once her parents had started grilling Kathy and was now wandering around the picnic.

"Hey, 'scuse me," she said, giving the cute boy a bright smile. "Hi, I'm Sarah. I'm looking for my sister, Kathy. I don't suppose you know her?"

Unlike Kathy, Sarah was smooth.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

Anders blinked for a moment. Somehow he'd been so focused on Templars and such that he'd forgotten other people had actual families.

Actual families involving cute, mini-Kathy little sisters.

"I do know her," he said, smiling. "I haven't seen her yet today, but that doesn't mean much. But it's nice to meet you. I'm Anders."

And he could occasionally act normal, relatively speaking and despite the clothes.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[the_family_li]

"But you do know her!" Sarah said, fluttering her eyes just the tiniest bit. Yeah, he was in weird clothes, but then so were half the people she'd seen today. "I don't suppose you'd mind showing me around a little bit? There are so many people here, I'm afraid I'll get lost."

Because the biggest crowd Fandom could provide was totally enough to rival something in LA. Sure.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

Anders gave her a skeptical look at the mention of getting lost -- he was from a place far smaller than L.A., and he doubted even the youngest and slowest apprentice mage would be honestly overwhelmed by Fandom -- but smiled nonetheless.

"I suppose I could," he said agreeably. "You don't want your sister to do that?"

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[the_family_li]

"I left her talking to my parents to go find something to eat and lost them in the crowd," Sarah said, looking wide-eyed even as she attempted to slip her arm in his. "Besides, my parents will be grilling her forever about her grades and stuff. Totally boring."

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

"That's going to go well," Anders sighed, since as far as he could tell Fandom didn't even have grades. He moved his arm just enough that Sarah couldn't link hers into it, but did let her take his elbow. "School's important to your parents, isn't it?"

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[the_family_li]

Boo. Well, fine. She was going to hold onto his elbow then, at least until her parents were around. And later, she was going to grill Kathy on everything about this guy.

And any other cute ones she met.

"Crazy-important. Kathy got a B- on her report card once and Dad didn't speak to her for, like, five days. And it was a B- in music. Not even, like, a real class or something. All because she was too shy to sing in front of the class." She rolled her eyes, then gave Anders a bright smile. "I'm not shy, though."

No duh, Sarah.

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

"Five days of silence over music?" Anders repeated. That made new sense out of Kathy's reluctance to tell her father to piss off, all right. "And I noticed you aren't shy."

Probably the entire crowd had noticed that by now.

"How much does Kathy tell you about Fandom?"

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[the_family_li]

"It was the first time Kathy had gotten anything other than straight A's," Sarah said, a touch defensively. Because family was like that. "Dad was livid."

Not that not talking to Kathy for almost a week wasn't extreme. But Kathy had pulled her grade up!

"Of course I'm not. Classic younger sibling syndrome. My big sister is quiet and brilliant. I went the other way. Sort of." She was still expected to pull in exemplary grades, even though she didn't slave over it the way Kathy did. "And not a whole lot. She mostly said that this school is weird and I wouldn't even believe her if she tried explaining what it was like. We spend more time talking about what I'm up to in LA, because how much time can we talk about her latest test or whatever?"

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

"It's pretty boring," Anders said, and managed to keep a straight face as he did. "I'm not surprised she keeps quiet about it. I just asked out of curiosity."

And now he had a whole new layer of sympathy for Kathy.

"I'm an only child, so I didn't get any siblings to rebel against."

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[the_family_li]

"I'd say you're lucky, but Kathy's pretty much the best sister in the world. It's been rough not having her around at home. Mom and Dad pay way more attention to me now. I used to be jealous of all the attention she got, but now I'm like, 'You can have it!'"

She sighed and shook her head. "Plus, Kathy's just good at listening. She was never too busy, back home. Now it's almost impossible to get ahold of her. Sometimes, I try calling at like, eleven or twelve over here and she still doesn't answer."

It would go to the grave with her, but Sarah kind of missed her big sister. And by 'kind of' she meant 'a lot.'

"But enough about us. Why don't you tell me more about you, Anders. Expecting anyone? Parents? Extended family? ...Girlfriend?"

Re: Shadowy Bits [PW1]

[not_every_mage]

Awwww. That was sweet; Anders was going to need to tell Kathy what her sister had said.

"No, my family lives too far from here to come," he said, and felt a sudden, unusual ache of missing his mother. "I don't mind. I was, er, at a different school before this one" -- he mentally congratulated himself on the excellent cover -- "so I haven't really lived at home since I was 12."

"And," he added, sighing a bit, "I don't have a girlfriend. But I'm not looking for one just now, either."

Nathan wasn't his boyfriend, exactly, but he was close enough that Anders considered himself more or less off the market.