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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"Father, I have had some time to think since my visit," Romeo began. His posture was meek, but the set of his jaw was not. "The world extends beyond Verona's walls, as I was reminded before. If I take some business courses before returning home, I might be able to expand our family's reach -- and thus the city's happiness -- likewise."

"Another new course thou proposes, with as little charting as the last, to-- what was it? To teach, in Tokyo?" Ted Montague eyed his child warily, fingers drumming on the table. "Is this but to cozen me, to say, 'not yet, father, not yet', when we have waited already some time for thy return?"

Romeo bowed his head. "Thou must admit I have learned things here I might never have learned at Saint Peter's School, for all Friar Laurence is a good man," he said, stubborn. "I know my place in the end is Verona. But if I am to stay in school -- and the world is a different place than it was when thou had my years, and a harder one for those with naught but a good name to cushion them -- why not have it be in Tokyo, with my love? I will visit, and if thine need for me is urgent, I would come home."

Edited 2009-05-03 20:41 (UTC)

"We have need of thee in Verona at this time, not at some leisurely pace of moons," Montague responded, impatient. "Thy cousin can not be reached to learn sense, for all is well in his mind, whatever the world truly holds or our fortunes portend. How long? How long would thou have us await thy pleasure? Another year? Two? Four? Thou mayest return to find no legacy, no holdings, no future in Verona after too much time in a dream. And what dost thou think to learn, that can not be learned from thy father?"

"How will I know what I might learn, without going to the classes where it is taught, Father?" Romeo said, an echo of his father's temper in his voice. "Two years, no more. I promise. Wilt thou deny me that?"

He was on thin ice; he and his father both knew that Romeo was Montague enough to come home, albeit grudgingly, if he was given a true order.

"I beg thee, trust me in this."

He had long been too soft with his son; yet to demand obedience now might break all ties to Verona, and their family's honor. Montague frowned, torn. No word of not returning had been spoken. No hasty dreams of marriage, nor talk of labor unsuited and unsuitable of the Montague heir. And yet....

"Conditions there must be, ere I agree to thy proposal," Ted stated, unwilling to show weakness when most vulnerable to this child of such frustration, and so many dreams. "Two years only, as you say. Not one moon more to say good-bye, to plan or frivol. If two years you are given, two years only you shall have. I must plan for our family's good and not just thy own."

He took a sip of his drink, desperately attempting thought of how else to leash his child to his side, and guarantee his return to Verona.

Romeo did somethign he hadn't done since childhood, and that he wouldn't have done had the emotions of the day run a little less high. He let out a whoop and reached for a hug.

"I thank thee for this boon, Father. I will be home in May of 2011, not a day later."

Romeo's joy was ever quick to blossom; let the roots he'd put down here grow strong in another soil.

"Wait, wait!" Montague could not help a small chuckle, and thump Romeo's back. "There is one thing more. Just one, that I beg of you as your father, and not as head of the House of Montague." He sighed. "That should you wish to wed again, you do so with all our kin present, before the eyes of God, in Verona. Do not deny me this, my son. Do not make a pledge in a foreign land, among strangers, in secret or without my consent." Not again.

Romeo stepped back to see his father's eyes and gave a nod, more man than boy again. "I would like to wed properly, in a church, with the banns read and time with a priest beforehand. I know my mother would have wanted as much."

"Then I consent to this venture, in expectation that what thou wilt learn shall be used for the good of our family and for Verona. And if thou finds way to assist us in our ventures, thou shalt share them as thou studies." Ted nodded, then sighed. If no other marriage were contracted, and this passion died or ran aground on circumstance, then there would be less pain when his son returned as well.

"Thou hast done well, these last two years. Thou hast stayed the course here, and returned to clear thy name in Verona, and found a lady of honor who would not bring pain or shame upon our family." He stared into Romeo's eyes. "Missteps and mistakes of the past are not forgotten. But I hope, I believe-- thou hast learned." He tightened his grip on Romeo's shoulder. "I will trust. Or... I will try." His mouth quirked up in a smile.

"That is more than I could ask for, father," Romeo answered. "I will make good on thine trust, I vow. And I thank thee again for it."

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

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