Graduation Brunch: The Park, Sunday, mid-morning to mid-afternoon

[loverlyviolets]

A banner, the letters wrapped with fresh spring flowers, hung from the trees, spelling out CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2009! No missing letters or anything.

Spread out across the park were plenty of tables and chairs, some under the shade of picnic shelters, some out on the grass in the sunshine. For those who felt like getting back to nature, there were even red and white checked blankets spread out in a few areas for old-fashioned picnic-y goodness. Lack of ants not guaranteed.

The long table that ran along next to the picnic shelters was laden with a vast moddable array of traditional brillig-y food, including fruit, veggie snacks, breakfast pastries, sandwiches for the especially hungry or those who arrived more toward the unch end of brunch, and a wide variety of J,GoB-catered desserts. Drinks included coffee, tea, juices and soft drinks, and while there were plates provided, there were also wee picnic-basket-shaped trays for carrying things back to your seat, wherever that might be.

A space had been cleared for dancing, if people cared to do more than just listen to the light music being played through the speakers, and there was also an area set aside for outdoor games of croquet, horseshoes, or frisbee.

Everybody's welcome. Come celebrate with the Class of '09!

[OOC: Wait for the OCD. Don't make Eliza Doolittle have to cut a bitch. OPEN! And no one had to get cut! It's a good day!]

Comments

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John hadn't exactly slept yet. He'd been too pissed to even start looking for Dave until it was too late to stop by the hotel. Figuring he'd deal with it the morning, he'd gone back to his room and...yeah.

But at brunch there was coffee, blessed coffee.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"Not hiding anymore?" Dave confirmed, taking a seat next to his little brother.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John sighed, "I don't know why I bothered, other than honestly not wanting to know what time we're leaving today." With exhaustion came honesty.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"Well, maybe if you'd bothered to check your attitude you'd have found that Nancy and Jane had convinced me to talk to dad on your behalf," Dave replied, stealing John's coffee cup and sniffing the contents.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"-uh, Jaina. You talked to him? What'd you say?" John wasn't getting his hopes up. Hope was dead when it came to his family.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"No, first I want a conversation." It was what he'd told that Jaina girl, after all.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

There were limited topics John believed they could safely broach. "About what? Girls? Sports? Food?"

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"How about you. Why stay here when you've graduated?" Dave really didn't think he was going to like these answers, but still, he could listen while he drank John's coffee.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I guess I feel like there's still stuff I can get out of being here," John shrugged, sort of confused by Dave bothering to ask.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"What kind of stuff?" Dave asked. "How to watch movies?"

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Great, he talked to crazy detention guy. "It's better that than hanging out all summer on a golf course or falling asleep in meetings where I don't fit in," he said honestly. "And, of course, there's Jaina. Maybe."

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"Maybe? That girl was ready to argue all night with me over keeping you here," Dave informed him. "What'd you do now?"

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

And there it was, John had screwed up yet again. "What did you expect? I messed it up. She wanted me to talk to you and I didn't want to hear what you're probably gonna tell me as soon as this farce of a conversation is over."

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

Despite everything he'd been through, sometimes John was such a teenager.

"Being?" Dave prodded, knowing full well what it was.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Come on, Dave. We both know Dad wants me to come home and we both know why. How can I argue with that?" While John's voice was pleading, his face was resigned to his fate.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

Dave reached to refill the cup, ignoring the cream and sugar. "You don't have to. It's taken care of."

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean, 'taken care of'?" John asked, worried that his brother had done something that would make everything worse.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[dave-not-doug.livejournal.com]

"After hearing what Nancy and Jaina and that professor of yours had to say about you, I was able to tell dad that you were doing well here and that taking you away even for the few months between now and when you start Stanford would only encourage you to spiral back down to the kid you were before." That was a mouthful, Dave sipped on the fresh coffee. "And I might've told him that girlfriend of yours is on our side. Sorry about that."

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Wait, what?" John didn't understand what had just happened here.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[not-the-ex.livejournal.com]

"Your fake girlfriend's all sorts of pissy (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/3898449.html?thread=161652049#t161652049)," Nancy remarked, taking a seat at the table.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"What? Jaina's here?" John looked past Nancy, knowing he had a lot to apologize for. "Wait, fake?"

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[not-the-ex.livejournal.com]

"No, she stalked off. I guess she's jealous of us," she replied, picking some fruit off Dave's abandoned plate. "I think she wants to sleep with you."

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"What the hell, Nancy! She does sleep with me," John hissed. "What did you tell her?"

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[not-the-ex.livejournal.com]

"Johnny, come on, you don't have to lie," Nancy shrugged. "Gavin told me how you guys were a thing and Jane was your beard." She believed the story she liked best.

Re: Tables, Chairs, and Blankets

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"First, I'm John and she's Jaina, it's not that difficult to remember," John was a bit done. "Second, Gavin was fucking with you. Third, tell Dave I had to go and I'll call him later about bringing the woman I love for a visit."

He stood to leave but turned just to make sure Nancy wasn't confused before he headed out of the park. "By the way, I meant Jaina with that third thing."