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

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!]

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Parker grinned, and stopped as she headed for the food table. "Hey, you. And hey, little you." She gave Angela a thumb's up. "Abby, hunh?"

"Abby," Angela agreed, holding up the baby's hand to make her wave. "Say hi, Auntie Parker."

Abby merely gave the other woman a quizzical look.

"Did I ever send a thank you note for the stuff you sent when she was born?" Angela asked. "Things were really fuzzy for, um ... since then."

Parker sat down, and waved at Abby in bemusement, then smiled at Angela. "I think you did? You're welcome, anyway. I'd just gotten back to London then for my second year, so it was kind of fuzzy for me too. That whole weekend of being a guy didn't help." She grinned. "She's cute, really cute. Looks like you. I don't think I saw her if you took her to Homecoming last year."

"Yeah, we were only at the dance for like fifteen minutes," Angela said, almost apologetic. "And then the next morning she turned into this really obnoxious 14-year-old who thought Bel was her daddy."

"Oh my god. I think that's actually worse than what happened to me," Parker said, giving Abby an amazed look. "What were you thinking? Demonboy as your daddy? No, no, no. Mom has better taste than that." She shook her head at Angela. "How are things going with your classes, and taking her to movie screenings? I think that was the plan, last time we talked."

"Classes are fine, work is boring, and I don't get as many movie screenings as I thought I would," Angela said. "I have two weeks of finals then I'm done for the summer. And you're in China now?"

"Cool, too bad, and not unexpected. God, Finals. Mine are still a month away." Parker nodded. "Yeah, Peking University until late June at least, maybe longer. I end up thinking in Chinese some days, from never hearing English. I might be back in the states for the Fourth of July, I might not." She tilted her head. "Are you guys staying in New York all summer, or going home?"

"We haven't even talked about it," Angela said honestly. "We're kind of taking it as it comes, right now. But probably New York."

"What's Peking like?"

"History, god, just soaked in it. Medieval and ancient piled up right next to Cold War relics, right next to the most futuristic casinos you can imagine," Parker said. "It's like a constant time-warp, walking from sector to sector." She shook her head. "Some really egregious poverty right next to insane luxury and beauty. Kind of like New York that way, I think. Smokers everywhere, Christ, it's so hard to stay on the wagon." Her lips quirked sideways. "I like the people. I wasn't sure I would, but mostly, if they're not a government bureaucrat, they're pretty cool. Used to making do with only so much, working out deals to get what they want." She made a face. "I like some of them better than my Ugly American co-workers."

"... jealous," Angela said. "I didn't get to travel a lot. But yeah, it does sound a little bit like New York, with the incredible insane contrasts everywhere."

"Yup." Parker held a finger out in front of Abby, to see if her eyes would follow it when she circled it, or if she'd try to grab it. "I'll be glad to get back to London in the fall. My last year, holy crap."

Abby cooed and reached for the finger. "Three-year program?" Angela asked. "Or are you just ahead of yourself?"

"A little of both." Parker laughed when Abby grabbed it, remembering Talyn at Peter and Willow's wedding, and feeling a pang for the Katrina-that-wasn't. "The econ degree is only three years. The Chinese, I'm going to try and get done early-- it's all required papers and orals, you can do them any time you're ready."

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

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