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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"A cat. Riiiight," Peter muttered. "And those messages? Were not reassuring. If I'd taken them seriously, I would have thought you were going to sell Neal to a pet store."

"I would never!" Kenzi gasped, shocked. Or looking it. "He was way too cute to sell to a pet store." She paused. "I would have kept him and we would've had a brilliant career in the television and movie industry. Mr. Caffrey, the hat cat." On an aside to Mr. Caffrey she added, "All the caviar you could eat, of course."

"And there's the spirit that probably made you hire her," Peter said to Neal. Back to Kenzi, he said, "You know, he wound up with 4 years in Supermax for bond forgery, and multiple escapes? That thing around his ankle is not a tennis bracelet."

Awww. He was trying to warn her! "So how did that happen, exactly? Mr. Caffrey wouldn't give me details. What was his big mistake?"

Peter wasn't about to talk about Kate Moreau-- that was both private and painful for Neal. So he told the other part of the truth. "He gave me a lollipop."

"He what?" Kenzi stared at him. Then stared at Mr. Caffrey. "Say it ain't so, Joe!"

"Sorry," Neal said, shooting Peter a look that was less than thrilled. "I think it was green apple," he added thoughtfully.

"You had to show off," Peter told him, then pointed at him, talking to Kenzi. "You see where you could end up?"

Kenzi's eyes slid from Neal to Peter and back. "Way smart with great clothes and knowing everything about cool art stuff?"

"Nice," Neal applauded her, nodding in approval.

What? He had a groupie! He finally had a groupie!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Her and that whole crew studying him at SUNY.

Peter shook his head with a sigh. "On work-release and only allowed to go a certain distance," he tried again, not quite ready to give up yet. "If Neal thinks you're smart, then I'm going to take his word for it. But smart only gets you so far. There's always somebody smarter."

"Somebody who doesn't hand out lollipops?" Kenzi checked. Her eyes slid back to Mr. Caffrey, then to Agent Burke. "Or somebody who doesn't believe people turn into cats?" She grinned. "Somebody can be smarter than both, right?"

"Here he goes," Neal warned her, grinning in anticipation of an oncoming Peter-speech.

He couldn't help himself. Peter actually *believed* all the law and order oaths he'd taken. Especially the order parts.

"You really think you're never going to get caught?" Peter asked, just a little more intense. "You really think there'll always be someone to get you out of trouble? Okay. Let's say we believe that." He waved his hand in the air as if erasing that line of argument. "What are you going to have, what are you going to build, that you get to keep, if you keep on in the same line of work as Neal? Thieves don't get to take credit if they want to stay free, Kenzi."

There was a tiiiiny flicker in Kenzi's eyes that might have indicated this idea wasn't unfamiliar to her.

"If I have to tell someone stuff, that's why I have friends. And a Toby. And a Bo." She tilted her head at Mr. Caffrey. "And teachers. And sometimes it's just enough to know you accomplished something. You know?"

Neal inclined his head slightly. It was true. While the romance of running had diminished just a bit after a while, he couldn't possibly deny the rush it gave.

It crossed his mind to tell Kenzi how much getting caught had sucked, or how shitty supermax had been for someone like him. He thought she might need to hear it, just in case -- but he didn't want it to be from him.

"She does have a Bo," Neal finally granted, shrugging at Peter. That was something he hadn't had. Even if Peter would have no idea what that meant.

"Is Bo your boyfriend?" Peter asked, trying to mask concern in sternness. "Just because some big guy says he can protect you, doesn't mean he can always be there..."

He'd almost had Kenzi there, but this had her giggling, spell broken. "Bo is not my boyfriend. That's Toby. Who likes me even if he knows what I'm like." She looked around and then grinned, pointing out Bo with SECURITY stretched across her chest. "That's Bo. She tries to make me give stuff back. Sometimes. And she hasn't let me down yet." She gave Peter an up-and-down look, eyes cynical. "Unlike some guys who want to 'save' you, you know?"

Well, Neal had certainly never heard of anyone like that. Ahem.

"See? She's got it covered."

Peter checked her line of sight, blinked at the sight of Bo -- he was married to an awesome woman, not dead -- then re-focused, and sighed. "Okay. Backing off. Not backing down." He pointed at Neal. "You are no help."

"And on that note, chiqui-quitas, I have a Toby to find, and classmates to mock, and Mozzie to get dinner reservations," Kenzi said sunnily. "It was really cool meeting you, Agent Burke! We should talk again before you go." She grinned at Neal. "Later, Mr. Caffrey!"

And off she eeled through the crowd.

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

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