The Park, Saturday morning

[stykera]

It was snowing. Normally Stark disliked snow. Since it wasn't cold and the snow was both sparkly and sweet he wasn't bothered by it this time. The sky looking the way it did was something that might be worrisome if it caused anything other than glittery sugar falling from the sky. But it hadn't. Yet. The tremors had been concerning the first few times but as they hadn't yet caused the ground to open up and swallow any bits of the island or its inhabitants they were also currently not deemed a threat. As far as unusual island events went this one seemed harmless. So far. Safe enough to go outside, anyway, so he did.

As a result there was a sugar-glitter dusted Banik walking in the park with a coffee that had been sweet to start with and was rapidly approaching hummingbird food levels of sugar as the "snow" fell.


[open, obvs, for your Park or Stark needs]

Comments

[dauntlessdragoon]

As much as Freya had decided she was going to stop spending so much time out leaping around everywhere, she felt like she could make an exception for that morning. This...snow...or whatever it was, definitely needed some exploring. It seemed harmless enough, though, and it didn't seem to make the animals go violent and crazy, like the Mist did back home, so that seemed good.

Still, when she spotted someone in the park, she went ahead and leapt down from...somewhere, landing easily and looking around before asking, "Is this sort of thing normal, this time of year?"

[stykera]

Stark only jumped a little when Freya landed.

"Not that I can remember," he said. "I was gone, for a while, but I don't think the weather has changed that much. Not usually snow of any sort, now, and the sugar? I think it's sugar. The sugar isn't usual at all. Maybe in the winter, a few times."

[dauntlessdragoon]

It was...sugar? Freya wasn't usually in the habit of tasting weather, especially since the weather where she was from could be incredibly dangerous, but with that information, she lifted her snout, sniffed carefully, and stuck out her tongue a little to catch some.

"It is sweet!" she remarked, surprised even though she had been sort of expecting it. It was just so...peculiar.

And now she sort of did wonder if Mist had a taste...

[stykera]

Stark nodded. "Sugar glitter snow. I wonder if the animals like it." Were the porgs and the teal deer and the ducks enjoying this?

"I like it better than the regular snow," he added after a moment. "Even if it isn't normal." Of course, this was Fandom. What did 'normal' even mean?

[dauntlessdragoon]

"I prefer rain, myself," said Freya with a wistful sort of smile, "though perhaps not now after this. That seems like it would be a terrible sticky mess."

[stykera]

"It would be very sticky." Rain on top of this much sugar did sound awful. And they might all end up covered in bees. Or stuck to things.

"I don't mind rain," Stark said. "If I have somewhere to get out of it. But hopefully not at the same time as this snow. In a few days would be fine. Give this time to melt. Or disappear." Assuming it did either. You could never really be sure about these things.

[dauntlessdragoon]

"Where I'm from," Freya offered, "it's always raining. By comparison, this place seems rather dry. Even this is dry, for snow..."

Which only gave more proof that it wasn't really snow. Freya looked up into it thoughtfully.

"I hope it's not too difficult to clean off our clothes..."

She was almost a little afraid to see how much may have accumulated on her hat by now.

[stykera]

"I spent a lot of time on ships," Stark said. "Not on the water. Spaceships. Not much rain to be had there. Or snow."

"I think if it doesn't get wet it should shake off. Or brush off." Or he was going to be glittery forever as much time as he was planning on being outside today.

[dauntlessdragoon]

"I've been on airships back home," said Freya thoughtfully, "but never space ships...

"I'm Freya," she then added, with a wave of her paw, "I think I've seen you at some of the Wednesday activities?"

[stykera]

"Haven't been on any airships," Stark said. "Several spaceships though."

"Wednesdays," Stark said, shaking his head slightly. "Yes, I was there for many of Anakin's...activities. I'm Stark. Good to meet you, Freya."

[dauntlessdragoon]

"Good to meet you, as well." Freya nodded a little, shook a little of the snow that was building on the bow on her tail off, though that seemed a little futile, it would just be building right back up. "Have you been here long, Stark?"

[stykera]

"Yes," Stark said. "But also no. I was here, and I left, and then I came back. And then I was gone again. But now I'm back. Again. Have you?"

[dauntlessdragoon]

"Actually," said Freya, blinking her eyes a little in surprise, "yes. But perhaps...not as much. I wound up here by what seemed like an accident if it weren't for te fact that I'm registered as a student at the school, and then I was finally able to get home after trying all summer, only to wind up accidentally here again after about a week..."

It was...more than a little frustrating, but she was trying to stay collected about it.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's children, who had been eating a lot of this snow when they thought he wasn't watching, tore past Stark on their way to the playground equipment because Anakin was not dealing with that level of hyperactivity in his house today.

"Good morning," he said, smiling at Stark as he got closer.

[stykera]

Good job, little Skywalkers. Stark and his cup of now only vaguely coffee-flavored sugar water salute you. Metaphorically. He didn't want to spill so he just smiled at the zooming children.

"Morning, Anakin."

[sith_happened]

Anakin squinted up at the sky. "Well. It could be weirder. At least this is pretty. I remember one time it rained chocolate pudding."

[stykera]

Stark nodded unable to remember if he'd actually been on the island at that point. "This is better than pudding. No matter how much I like chocolate. This should be much easier to clean off." Chocolate pudding would be much hard to clean off the mask straps. "And it's pretty. Shouldn't say it could be weirder though, should you? Tempting fate." Honestly, Anakin, the island can HEAR you.

[sith_happened]

Anakin laughed. "Yesterday, Rey remembered that last year we were fighting evil clowns, so I think she has dibs on the horrible thing coming next."

[stykera]

"I...am not sorry to have missed evil clowns," Stark admitted. Now who was tempting fate? Maybe all three of them would somehow end up faced with clowns made of pudding.

"This is fine with though. Sparkly and sweet." And not at all traumatizing!

[sith_happened]

"Even the shakes make it prettier," Anakin agreed. "It's strange not to trust it, but..."

Fandom.

[stykera]

"I could do without the shaking," Stark said. "But it seems harmless. So far." Which were famous last words. Just maybe not this time. Maybe. "The ground hasn't opened up to swallow us whole or spit out anything. Yet."

If the shaking somehow led to pudding clowns terrorizing the island Stark was going to be very upset.

[sith_happened]

"It's very nice of it not to do so," Anakin said, glancing over to make sure his children weren't trying to lift the entire playset off the ground with the Force. "It's nice to see you out and around," he added with a smile.

[stykera]

Stark would be very impressed if the playset started floating, Anakin.

"Thank you. I'm...I'm trying to be out more. Better than the alternative. The paintball helped, I think." The paintball made him briefly lose his mind and taunt an Aeryn is what the paintball did.

[sith_happened]

Anakin looked genuinely pleased to hear that. "It was fun, wasn't it? Aeryn and I have gone monthly since we graduated, and we've run out of places to go at this point."

Because they'd been thrown out of them all.

[stykera]

There must be new paintball places that have opened by now!

"It was." That he'd escaped unscathed had made it even more so. "I hadn't heard of it before that I remember. They explained it at the bakery." Which was a good thing or people running around with guns everywhere would have been extremely disturbing. "Do your children play?"