fandomhighdorms | The Garden, Saturday Afternoon

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The Garden, Saturday Afternoon

Karla wasn't surprised when she woke up and couldn't find her Mommy or Daddy. They were often gone for hours and hours and hours, doing important Court stuff. What was weird was that she didn't recognize anyone in the castle, and there didn't seem to be any servants around to feed her.

So, rather than stay in the room she'd woken up in (also not her room--had they caught the Winds after she'd fallen asleep?) Karla had decided to go looking for people. Someone had to be taking care of her, right?

Her search had lasted right until she'd gone outside and found the garden. It was a good garden, filled with lots of healthy looking plants and deep, rich soil.

The perfect kind of soil for mud. Specifically, mud pies.

Karla forgot all about trying to find someone. Instead, she was sitting in the center of the garden, spattered with mud, patting the mud into rough pie shapes and decorating them with pretty rocks and leaves.

[Open! Come and get dirty!]

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Jack had managed not to notice any of the children as he dressed and left the dorms, so he was almost surprised to spot the small girl making mud pies. Another misplaced child?

"Hello there," he called. "Are you looking for anyone in particular?"

Oh! A grown up! Karla gave him a very big smile; maybe he'd know where the kitchens were. "My Mommy an' my Daddy," she said, standing up and giving him a tiny, albeit mud-spattered, curtsy. "My Mommy is the Queen. Do you know where she is? Or breakfast?"

At this point, Karla was a little more interested in breakfast, to tell the truth. "I'm hungry."

"I don't know where the queen is," Jack said thoughtfully, trying to weigh who among his fellow students might be meant by that. "Breakfast, I can help you with. Are rolls and eggs all right? Have you been to the castle yet?"

"I was in the castle but I didn't know nobody," Karla announced. Cursty accomplished, she held out her hands, palms up, in the traditional Kaeleeran greeting. Those palms were, of course, covered in mud and flower detritus. "An' I like rolls an' eggs! Who's castle is it? Is it the Province Queen's? Can I have the rolls an' eggs now?"

Karla carefully stepped over the edge of the flower bed and held out her hands, palms up, in the traditional Kaeleeran greeting. Those palms were, of course, covered in mud and flower detritus. "Who're you? Are you part of the Court? Where are we? I want to know."

Oh, Jack knew that greeting -- and by now, he knew it did not mean to kiss her hand. He responded in kind. "My name is Jack," he said. "The castle is a school, it's not really anybody's. I'm not part of the kind of court you mean."

He considered the girl a moment longer. "Is your mother's name Karla?"

Karla began giggling. "Oh, no, silly!" she said with glee. "I'm Karla!"

Silly male!

...

Blink. Blink. Blink.

"Of course," Jack said, as if he hadn't wasted any time boggling at all. "I thought you looked familiar."

"I don't know you," Karla said, putting her hands on her hips. "You aren't familiar to me."

Not that this was going to stop her from eating his eggs and rolls, mind.

"I'm not?" Jack affected his most perplexed look. "Maybe I'm confused. Maybe I want to get breakfast for some other little girl named Karla."

Oooh, Jack. That's meeeeeean.

Also? Effective!

"No! No! You want to get this Karla breakfast! You do, you do! I've veeeery hungry," she added, giving Jack a most pathetic expression. "I bet we'll be friends an' familiar then."

Not laughing at Karla over that was one of the hardest things ever. She should be proud of Jack.

"We can certainly be friends," he said agreeably as he started leading the muddy little girl back toward the dorms. "Do you know how you got here, by chance?"

She would be grateful for his forbearance later, when she was grown up again.

"The Winds," Karla said, nodding. "I woke up inna funny little room that wasn't my room, so Mommy an' Daddy must've gotten called to this Province an' taken me with them." Karla sounded very happy about that. "Usually they leave me home an' come back after days an' days an' days."

"They must know you're getting to be a big girl," Jack hazarded, because what did you say when your schoolmates were a decade younger? You didn't disturb them by pointing out what was wrong.

"You'll rule when you're older, won't you?" he continued. "So they must want you to get used to different customs now."

(no subject)

glacial_queen - 2010-04-25 06:52 (UTC) - Expand

"Hi Jack!" Tony waved.

"Hello!" Jack said, and trailed off since he had no idea who the brown-haired boy could be, but if Karla was anything to go by, he would seem to be one of his schoolmates. "Are you having fun in the garden?" he tried instead.

"I just got here!" Tony said. "Wanna play Space Battles? I'll be Duke and you can be Yoga Latte!"

"What does Yoga Latte do?" Jack asked, logically enough.

"He's the teacher!" Tony said, in a "duh" voice. "Haven't you seen Space Battles? They're the best movies ever!"

Er. Jack tended to ignore movies unless Mitchell or Tony was trying to convince him to care about them. All the ones with people fighting in space blurred together.

"I might not have," he admitted. "I can pretend, though, if you want. is that all right?"

Tony frowned briefly. "You should see more movies," he advised. "When I grow up I'm going to see every movie ever. And make my own! But I guess we can pretend for now."

"Noted," Jack said dryly. "Thank you for letting me pretend, Tony."

He was guessing, but it was Tony's accent, and there were only so many boys on campus who'd want to talk about movies to him.

"So, how would I pretend to be the teacher?"

Tony frowned again. "I'm s'posed to carry you around on my back. But you're too big!"

"I could carry you," Jack suggested, mildly chuffed at being 'too big' for something for once. "I'm the teacher, so I should be older, shouldn't I?"

Ah, the eternal debate of canonical accuracy versus piggyback rides. It only took Tony a moment to decide. "Okay!" he said. "But you have to pretend to be green!"

... green? Really?

"All right, I'm green," Jack said gamely as he knelt. "Hold on tight."