fandomtownies | Parents' Weekend Meet & Greet, The Park, Friday Afternoon

Parents' Weekend Meet & Greet, The Park, Friday Afternoon

The day had dawned crisp and clear, but by the time afternoon had rolled around... it was really still kind of ridiculously warm for fall. People could probably get away with not wearing a sweater, even.

Which made rather good weather for a picnic, convenient since that was the traditional way of kicking off the Fandom High Parents' (and assorted other relatives, friends, acquaintances, or sometimes even enemies, but that was harder to fit nicely on a banner) Weekend. So there were rows of picnic tables decked out in blue and yellow, laid out with just about any sort of foodstuff one could imagine. And just in case there was any lingering doubt as to the purpose of the picnic, a glittery banner (Petra's work, naturally) adorned the registration tables:

[ooc: ocd up! registration / security / food & drink / mingling / post two ]

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"Our Peter does not have a lot of time for his parents," Theresa said. She sounded a little bitter. "Too many important things on his mind."

"Like what?" Luke inquired. "I'm sure you've gone to a lot of trouble to get here to see him."

"Oh, you know what boys are like at these ages. Sixteen, seventeen," Theresa said, regaining control of herself before she spilled anything. "Girls, grades, parties. And we're the horrible killjoys who stop them from enjoying themselves."

Luke looked amused. "Is that what they're supposed to be interested in? I found my son taking apart a refrigerator when I arrived."

"Ah, you have the practical sort," John Paul chimed in. "At least that's going to leave less of a mess than the parties. Barely."

He offered Luke a hand. "John Paul Wiggin."

Not that he realised that saying that would make it ridiculously obvious they were feigning normalcy.

"Luke Skywalker," Luke replied, shaking the offered hand and managing not to laugh about their normal son who loved parties and girls. They hadn't mentioned Ender, so he wouldn't bring it up.

Lucky he was a veteran of multiple timelines, huh?

"What year is Peter? My son Ben's a senior."

"Theresa," Theresa added, offering her hand as well. "And Peter is a sophomore. He's sixteen. I'm sure you know what that age is like - Ben must be a little more grown up."

"Ben's always been a little more grown up," Luke said with a wry smile. "We were on vacation this summer--" exile, something, "--and he told me that I had been a very young sixteen."

John Paul chuckled, though Theresa remained silent. "Well, we're parents," he said, "We're supposed to serve as the bad example forever more." He paused. "It seems like a very small school. It wouldn't surprise me if our sons knew each other."

"Me either," Luke said, "even if Ben isn't the most social person ever. What does your son look like?"

He was pretty sure he had a good idea.

"Tall, dark hair... that one over there." John Paul pointed through the crowd, though whether he was indicating Older Peter or Younger Peter, only Peter himself might know. "We sent him here during the summer to build up some credit."

"Credit?" Luke repeated, looking slightly confused.

"For college," Theresa filled in. "We want to give him the best start we possibly can."

John Paul touched her hand briefly; he had a feeling this man wasn't buying much of it.

John Paul was wise, but Luke wasn't inclined to break the Wiggins' carefully constructed facade about how normal their son (sons, really) was.

"Isn't that every parent's goal?" he asked. "This is Ben's fourth year here now, and I've seen some wonderful changes in how he approaches the world."

"Oh?" John Paul sounded genuinely interested; he was slightly more optimistic about Peter's shot at being a better person than Theresa was. "Howso?"

"He has friends now," Luke said, "and he's expanding his outlook from just what he learned from his mother and me."

Which brought with it its own set of problems, but not something Luke was willing to discuss.

"He wasn't sheltered before he came here, but you must have noticed that this isn't the most boring of student bodies."

"It's certainly diverse."

Theresa still sounded dry.

"They don't... teach the same value system here as they do in most American schools, do they?"

"I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with what the do in American schools ~~despite my American accent~~," Luke replied apologetically.

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Parents' Weekend Meet & Greet, The Park, Friday Afternoon

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