23rd ♫ | At the end of that nostalgic song I sensed the wings of magic

[mytarget]

[ It's a gorgeous day outside today -- birds are singing, the sun is shining and there's even a nice breeze keeping it from getting too clammy out. In short, it's the perfect day for a picnic. And evidently, someone else had this idea too because someone's actually gone to the trouble to set one up!

There's an absolute assload of food of all different kinds -- basically if you can reach enough to justify it being a picnic food, it's here. And whoever this kind soul with way too much money and time is, they've also put up a little sign encouraging people to sit down and eat. in any other situation this would be really suspicious BUT THIS IS JUST A THINLY VEILED EXCUSE TO HAVE AN OC MINGLE POST SO WHAT THE FUCK EVER LET'S DO IT ]

Comments

[attemptedsororicide]

[There's a short, spindly young teenager who looks kind of like she got into a fight with a mud puddle and lost crawling around and getting her grubby little hands all over everything—hand, as it were; her right arm is some kind of brassy robotic-looking prosthetic creaking with each movement, so she's using her left hand to grab food instead. Some of it's going in a burlap backpack like she means to save it for later. An entire slice of strawberry cake is going in her mouth all at once. For god's sake Noa it's like you've never eaten before??? Have some manners?????? She's noisily licking frosting off her fingertips, too, what were you raised in a barn.]

[kunstlerisch]

[ There's a little kid with bright red eyes, probably no older than seven or eight, wandering up and down the picnic blanket with wide, fascinated eyes. Every now and then she'll stoop a bit to peer at some of the food and sometimes scrunches up her face as she does so before carrying on.

... she's also being tailed by what looks to be a wolf, with a wagging tail and the doofiest ears you've ever seen with one straight up and one flopped. It stops when she does and occasionally gives her a little nudge with its head at which point she stops to administer all the pets before continuing.

You might even find her staring at you pretty intensely while you're eating, face scrunched up again. ]

[becharms]

[ There's an average height, pink haired late teen who's clearly enjoying herself to a little bit of everything—and taking selfies galore as evidence as well. She seems especially fond of all the cute desserts.

However, she's not just satisfied taking photos of food and herself, she's taking plenty of other people as well, even trying to rope others into taking a selfie with her. But not without cheerfully hopping over and striking up a conversation. ]

[apothecarist]

[Vague undefined park-type picnic-having settings are good for gathering, which is why Phoebe came here in the first place—there are a couple of cloth pouches hanging from her belt loops and she's been filling them with stray seeds and weeds and leaves—but who is she to deny a picnic?

So this young woman's sat down at the blanket's edge, the broom she flew in on set beside her, modestly munching at some fruits and cheeses. Occasionally, with a careful flick of her wrist, an item elsewhere will hover and float its way into her hand so she doesn't have to nudge anyone aside to get it, and she'll smile brightly at anyone watching.]

[hamamelis]

[ This girl's been taking a lot of photos...

Lottie's been sort of absently watching her the whole time and only half paying attention to her food which is why she looks both startled and kind of guilty when she actually bounces over. ]

Oh, um-- [ WAY TO SPACE OUT WHEN A CUTE GIRL IS TALKING TO YOU, LOTTIE ] -- S--sorry?! I didn't...

[becharms]

[ What a cute reaction~ Although she feels a little bad for spooking her. ]

Hehe, did I catch you by surprise~? Sorry about that! [ She holds up her very pink and very decorated phone. ] Do you want to take a picture together?

[ Gotta have photos of all the cute girls. ]

[leftyandrighty]

[ And then there's this asshole, over here eating... yep, that's protein powder. It's not even mixed into anything.

She pauses in mid-mouthful when she notices she's being stared at. Also, the wolf. ]

Uhhhhhhhh... are you lost?

[papermache]

[Mila plops down next to the other part-machine girl, stuffing her face with... um... are those pancakes made with Kool-Aid powder]

Hungry, huh?

[attemptedsororicide]

[Noa pauses and takes a moment to scooch ever so slightly further away from where Mila has sat down next to her, expression unchanging—it isn't a deliberately rude gesture, Noa just likes her space.]

It's free. [Said very matter-of-factly; obviously she's taking a shitton of food?? It's free??? And then she jams the cookie already in her hand into her mouth all at once, too. oh my god it's like she's FERAL

Through a mouthful of food:] The sweets are very good.

[so here's one terrible urchin's recommendation]

[papermache]

I don't know, my taste is a little different. [nom] Anyone even catch what this picnic was for?

[kunstlerisch]

[ She just shakes her head, still staring. ]

I'm not lost.

[ Her voice is accented -- German, by the sounds of it but not quite as heavy as it could be. The wolf gives a little boff of a woof right in its chest and she rather casually sets an arm on its back and ruffles its fur. ]

What's that food?

[leftyandrighty]

[ HP notices the accent, but has no idea what to make of it, because she's never heard of Germany. She starts going over the things in her lunchbox. ]

This stuff is protein powder. These are energy bars, supplements, vitamins, energy shake... basically everything a body needs.

I guess you're supposed to mix the powder into drinks and stuff, but I like this kind on its own.

[hamamelis]

No, um... I wasn't really paying attention, so...

[ She's not really sure where she was going with that sentence so it's kind of a relief to have an excuse to change the subject. ]

Y--yes, a photo would be nice! Have you been getting pictures with everyone else...?

[kunstlerisch]

[ Krista wrinkles up her nose a bit. If she's eating it then it's obvious edible but she can't say that any of it sounds at all appetizing. It's a bit clinical sounding to be honest which puts her off in about every way possible. ]

Does it even taste good like that, though? It looks like chalk or something.

[ are you eating chalk, HP. are you. ]

[becharms]

Not yet, but that's what I hope to do! I've only taken pics of food and myself—and myself with food. [ She laughs joyfully. ]

So you're lucky number one~ [ With a huge grin, she winks playfully. ]

[leftyandrighty]

[ She shrugs. ]

It gets the job done. If I feel like getting some kind of tasty thing, sometimes I throw in some almonds. I'd rather keep my body in top form than worry about what my lunch tastes like.

[ An ideal solution for HP would just be some kind of Nutrition IV that directly, steadily injects electrolytes and necessary chemicals directly into her bloodstream. Eating is overrated. ]

[kunstlerisch]

[ She's still got her face scrunched up and it's clear she's unimpressed by the answer. ]

But there's lots of food here that tastes better. Why not eat that?

[ Not that Krista's actually done any eating herself yet but she's been far too distracted with inspecting everything and giving everyone else's lunches a good staredown. ]

[hamamelis]

[ Is she red? She feels like she's red. She's probably pretty red. But she's being winked at and she's not entirely sure how to handle it. So. ]

I'm... not very good in photos though! [ not a rejection, just a warning. ] I'm not very good at... smiling...

[becharms]

Don't worry! [ Carys lightly wraps an arm around Lottie's shoulder. ] I can smile enough for the both of us~

[ After setting up the camera on phone, she holds it at arms length in order to get the two of them in frame. ] You ready? [ She gives a reassuring smile at the other girl. ]

[leftyandrighty]

I mean, you can if you want? I don't... really care how food tastes, I just wanna take care of myself.

Is that your wolf?

[kunstlerisch]

Yeah!

[ That gets a little smile out of her which is a nice break from the lineface from before. The wolf chuffs rather happily and shoves its head under Krista's arm, tail wagging furiously as she pets away. ]

He's Dimwit. Papa made him.

[leftyandrighty]

That's an awesome name for a dog.

[ Dog, wolf, same diff, right ]

[kunstlerisch]

Right? I think he likes it too.

[ There's certainly a whole lot of furious tailwagging going on right now but that seems to be Dimwit's default state of being to be perfectly honest.

His eyes are on HP as Krista pets him and his ears are perked forward in an undeniably friendly way. In fact, he's paddling his paws like he wants to scoot over and say hello. ]

Some of the others have good names too but I like Dimwit's best.

[hamamelis]

[ she flinches a bit more in surprise than anything else but she doesn't seem all that averse to being pulled in for selfies.

she forces a smile but like she promised, it's a bit awkward. ]

Yeah, I--I'm ready!

[leftyandrighty]

[ Thinking back a second... ]

By the way, aren't dogs, like, born? I didn't know you could just make one.

[becharms]

Alright! 3, 2, 1—smile! [ Just before hitting the button, Carys throws up a V sign. ]

There~ [ Dropping her arm from Lottie's shoulder, she pulls up the photo to show the other girl. ] Hehe, I think it came out great~ [ Aw, that awkward smile is so cute!! But hopefully she can capture a more genuine one~ ]

[attemptedsororicide]

[STILL CHEWING:] It's for free.

[noa that's...that's not......oh honey

either she doesn't understand what kool-aid powder is or the fact that it never should have been part of a pancake doesn't deter her (it's both) because she follows up by gesturing at Mila's food once she's done scarfing down that cookie.] May I try some?

[here it is. the single whole manner Noa possesses.]

[papermache]

Huh? Sure. [She cuts a piece off and pushes it toward her on the plate.] Surprised, most people don't get what I eat at all. Eyes asked if they replaced my taste buds along with my spine. They didn't, for the record.

[lobisomem]

[Dogs? Not a problem. Never a problem. Luciana is used to dogs, she is different enough from a dog that they were easy to adapt to; she walks by dog parks on the regular and it isn't even a thing.

But there's a wolf here.

Some kind of domesticated wolf? It's someone's pet?? What the hell???? Wild wolves are one thing but this is somebody's pet holy shit????? Luciana is prepared for a lot of things but not this.

She's just sort of...watching the wolf from afar, wary in a way that could easily be mistaken for general wolf-related caution instead of internal oh god oh hell it's going to smell the werewolf on me goddamn it what happens if it thinks I'm a threat be cool be cool ACT NATURAL

um

your move, wolf friend]

[attemptedsororicide]

[And now that Noa has used up her allocated manner for the day, she just grabs the piece of pancake and shoves it directly into her mouth. She makes a little humming noise of acknowledgement that...is probably a thank you? Maybe? If she feels especially strongly about it one way or another, she makes no indication, but really Noa will eat just about anything.]

How do you replace a spine?

[NO TACT WHATSOEVER, but she sounds genuinely curious instead of speaking with that flat matter-of-factness she has throughout the rest of this conversation—replacing an arm is one thing, you just put a new one where the old one used to be, but spines are a big deal.]

[papermache]

They didn't technically, but they repaired a lot. See?

[She turns her back to her, where part of a long scar can be seen, and undoes the back of the choker part of her top to show that there's some kind of charging port surrounded by scar tissue at the back of her neck.]

I need power to move around, is the gist of it.

[attemptedsororicide]

[Noa makes a soft oooohh noise, utterly entranced. Her arm, bulky and brassy with screws and plate edges completely, messily visible, is a technological and magical marvel where she comes from, and it creaks every time it moves and it took her years to figure out how to keep the gears from sticking most of the time.]

I have never seen anything like this before. [She leans in and hovers by the port, only slightly past the threshold of what would be considered acceptable personal space allowance.] Is this for putting something in?

[kunstlerisch]

[ She gives a little nod. ]

Yeah. Most of the time they're born but Dimwit's different. Papa made him and the rest of them for him and Howl to use on the ship.

[ she says all this incredibly casually like she just expects what she's saying to make immediate sense. ]

[kunstlerisch]

[ The wolf seems pretty chill, all things considered. In fact it doesn't really show all that much interest in straying from the girl's side for more than a few moments at a time. It's quite happy to tail her as she wanders around and only takes notice of Luciana when Krista wanders over.

While Krista leans in to peer at a stack of tuna sandwiches (and actually picks one up to eat this time), the flop-earned wolf comes a-sniffing in Luciana's direction. Then it lifts and cocks its head at her, tail perked up in what looks to be friendly interest.

Still, though. That's totally a wolf. ]

[leftyandrighty]

[ Wow, HP has no idea what this girl's talking about. ]

You're, uh... You're a long way from home, huh.

[lobisomem]

[Okay, well, this could be going worse! That's totally a wolf but it doesn't see her as a threat or as encroaching on its territory; curious isn't the worst thing a wolf could be about her at all.

It's about now that the panic fades enough for Luciana to wonder what the heck this small child is doing running around all by herself except for her apparent pet wolf. So she pushes down the meet and greet instincts and smiles brightly at her from where she's sitting.]

Excuse me? Is he yours? [That is, the wolf.]

[papermache]

Yeah, charging. [She cranes her neck back to look at her.] Bunch of me got replaced and I need to recharge to get around. That's basically it. Of course, then you get the morons who ask if it means I have laser eyes or whatever else.

[kunstlerisch]

[ Nodding again. ]

Yeah. We're taking a break, but then we're leaving again. So I wanted to try the picnic and look around before we left.

[ ... so that's probably why she's been staring so hard at everyone. ]

[kunstlerisch]

[ She looks up from her food and sort of. stuffs the rest of the sandwich into her mouth, chews determinedly and nods the whole time, her face scrunched up in focus. Once her mouth's finally clear she gives a smile and walks over to Dimwit's side, idly resting a hand on his back. ]

Yeah! His name is Dimwit.

[ and then she squints a little suspiciously at the wolf. ]

Did he try to take your food?

[leftyandrighty]

Well!

Hope you find something tasty.

[lobisomem]

["Dimwit"... That's so rude. It's hilarious. She loves it.]

Not yet. [But she laughs, friendly and bright.] No, but really, he seems very well-behaved! [Buuut she's careful not to make any move closer to him or to the girl, since she is very clearly His Human.] He's not your only company here, is he?