fandomtownies | Homecoming 2017, Community Centre [Saturday Evening]

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Homecoming 2017, Community Centre [Saturday Evening]

Just when you thought it was time for the island's collective consciousness to maybe move on from the whole sharkicane thing... along came Homecoming! Well, the theme was actually "Under the Sea", but like the Student Council wasn't going to have glitter-encrusted sharks feature heavily in the decorations? Please.

Of course, it wasn't just sharks: there were plenty of glitter-dolphins, and fish, and ~~octopuses~~ ~~octopi~~ octopodes too. Jellyfish-shaped lights hung from the ceiling, and strategically-placed LED projectors were set up to complete the underwater ambiance.

[ooc: OCD is a go!: Arrive/Mingle | Photographs | Food/Punch | Dancing | Shadowy Corners | Chaperones | Homecoming Court | OOC ]

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"The one and only," said the guy who knew of no fewer than three other versions of himself as it was. He gave Kathy a little grin. "Ah, shit. You guys all keep growin' the hell up. Who authorized that?"

"I dunno," Kathy said with a small smile. "Do you really want the island to be full of perpetual teenagers? That just seems like a really dangerous proposition to me."

The island was always filled with teenagers, but at least they were new.

Reno gave an amused little snort at the thought.

"I mean, half the people I went to school with back when still ain't managed to grow up, so it ain't like it's really a stretch," he pointed out. "Difference is, they ain't comin' to these things makin' me feel old."

"I didn't recognize a single name of the Homecoming Court and I only--" her pause was just a hair's breadth too long to be intentional "--left school a few years ago. I feel old."

Yeah, Reno wasn't gonna miss a pause like that. He was also going to kind of take a moment to process it, file it away, make a note of it for later. Never knew when something like that was going to be important to notice.

"See, and here's where I turn to fuckin' dust and blow away on the wind," he snorted. "When the people I taught start feelin' old, I think that means I'm supposed to start thinkin' about retirement, yo."

As if Turks retired.

Like twenty Fandom alums just looked up and hurt themselves laughing without knowing why.

"Don't take it personally," Kathy assured him. "I was always an overachiever, remember?"

And at least she wasn't calling this ex-teacher of hers 'Dad.'

Reno probably would have either shat himself in fear or pissed himself laughing if anybody were to call him 'Dad,' honestly.

Possibly both. Either way, it would've been ugly.

"Problem with kids these days," he said easily. "Always doin' the best they can do, no matter what the challenge. One day it's figurin' out drinking water in the radioactive wastes, next, it's makin' the rest of us feel friggin' ancient. What'd I do to deserve that, anyway? Huh?"

Her smile turned a little wry about always doin' the best they can do, but by the time he got back to 'drinking water in the radioactive wastes' she was grinning properly again.

"I'd forgotten about that," she murmured. "Oh god, I thought I knew everything back then. When're you coming back to teach that course again. It turned out to be...surprisingly helpful, actually."

Well, there was a sentence he actually hated to hear. It was funny. When some teachers heard a line like that, it was something to be proud of. When he heard a line like that, it meant someone had gone through a very particular sort of hell.

Well. Shit.

"No idea," he replied, his tone sobering up slightly even while his shoulders kept his slouch and his expression remained the same. "I got some business I gotta take care of, but I been thinkin' about maybe makin' another appearance around the island for a while. This place pull somethin' bad, or...?"

Yeah, he had to ask. He was a Turk. Information was kind of his secret addiction.

"Went home," Kathy said, another wry smile flitting across her face. "Didn't end well. Lucky to be back now."

And, like, alive again. That was the really lucky bit.

"I actually got here the easy way. Hardison hacked a portal to get around Portalocity's quarantine. Raven hiked across the country on foot."

And found the Causeway destroyed. She'd really gotten the short end of the stick.

"Well... shit."

Reno was really good at summing up a situation succinctly.

"Then, hey, glad you're here, yo."

"Me too," Kathy said with a nod. "I mean, I could take fewer hurricanes that involve sharks, but it's the island." She shrugged. "Kinda comes with the territory. What have you been up to?"

And now Reno was also briefly sad he'd missed out on the sharks.

"Same old, mostly," he sighed. "Pickin' up pieces. Home's doing better than it's been, but that ain't saying much, yo."

He shrugged.

"Makin' a move, though. Got a Rookie who's callin' in a favor, and my own Gaia's gonna do just as fine without me for a while. Just gotta get there, is all. Talk 'em into lettin' me bring the ferret. All that good stuff."

Save the world. The other world. Friggin' multiverse.

Of course he was. Who didn't want to punch sharks for awhile?

"Going to move to another Gaia and start all over again?" Kathy asked. "You could start a service."

Sane people, probably.

"Not really all over," Reno replied. "It'll be... real fuckin' weird to see the old stompin' grounds still standing, too. But if I can give the place half a chance of gettin' through this still standin'..."

Midgar. Junon. Mideel... Shinra'd broken the world hard. There was still hope for some of it, maybe.

Which was why Kathy was pleased to have been in Mexico when it happened.

"I hope you can," she said, utterly sincere. She knew how it felt to see your whole world crumble. "I hope you make a difference."

"You an' me both," Reno replied, nodding. "I got better chances than they do, anyway, just knowin' what I know about where everything starts. That's gotta be worth something, if they decide to listen."

"Sometime's the listening's the hardest part," Kathy acknowledged with a sigh. "Especially when they're convinced they know what's best."

Not that she was speaking from personal experience here, perish the thought.

"I figure it'll be hard for anyone to think they know better'n someone who lived it," Reno pointed out. "Besides, I know my way around most of 'em."

He titled his head at her thoughtfully.

"Listenin' goes both ways, I guess. End of the day, I can make the offer, but it ain't my world to save if they won't accept it."

"True," Kathy acknowledged with a sigh. "Still, if it can be saved, I hope it is. A world's a lot to lose because someone didn't want to listen."

"Don't have to tell me," Reno replied, nodding. "But hey, they got a better chance than we did. I got high hopes, yo."

Well. He had middle hopes and Turk stubbornness.

Sometimes that was all it took. The right person in the right place who refused to move.

"Well, good luck with it," Kathy said. "You've got an island of people cheering for you, for the good that'll actually do."

Well-wishes and prayers for Midgard!

Midgar, even. Midgard was a different world!

But hey, Reno would take thoughts and prayers at this point, too.

"Better than nothin'," Reno replied, and then smirked a little. "Ain't never been cheered for before. That'll be neat."

Honestly, that was about the level of fuckup in the current administration.

"I heard there used to be a cheer squad without any sports teams," Kathy said with a chuckle. "I mean, if they're not doing anything anyway, might as well root for a good cause."

"Wonder if they travel," Reno mused. "Assuming they're still around, anyway. School still doin' extracurriculars, do you know?"

Not that it mattered much, really, but hey. Small talk.

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