The Maryland Zoo, Baltimore, MD, Tuesday

[glacial_queen]

Karla'd had no idea that Wesley and Warren had been talking about renting out an entire zoo for an afternoon and she still wasn't exactly clear on why, but apparently they had and now here they were, alone in a giant zoo. Maybe Katniss had a better idea?

Honestly? Karla was too pleased to have been invited to bother with silly things like questions.

The portal had dropped them all off at the the entrance to the Maryland Zoo and now they had several hours to wander around and visit with the animals. Karla had never actually been to a zoo before, so she was more than a little excited. Plus, she was still clutching the giant tub of cookies she'd improvised earlier as a thanks to Wesley, so they'd have delicious snacks if they got hungry while wandering around. There were signs that said "Do not feed the animals!" and "Hazardous waste strictly prohibited," but Karla wasn't paying them any attention. Why should she?

Especially when the important question was, what to do first?

[NFB for off-island shenanigans]

Comments

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"You came prepared," Katniss noted appreciatively when she spotted Karla's tub of cookies.

Oh, Katniss. If only you knew.

[glacial_queen]

"They're for Wesley, actually," Karla said with a nod in Wes's direction. "He really helped me out a week or so back, so I promised him cookies as a thank you."

And to teach him to NEVER BE HELPFUL AGAIN.

She opened the lid and offered Katniss one. "I'm pretty sure he won't mind sharing," she added with a smile. "Besides, I made plenty."

In fact, once he'd tried one, Wesley would probably be very anxious to get rid of as many as possible!

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

She took one, remembering the manners Effie had practically drummed into her. "Thank you," she said, smiling faintly before actually trying the cookie.

And to her credit, Katniss did not actually spit it out. But she did sort of lose her smile.

[glacial_queen]

Karla's smile slipped a bit, too. "You're welcome," she said, trying to figure out what had caused Katniss to make that face. "Uhh, did you get a burned one? I only burned one batch and I tried to scrape off all the burned bits, but maybe I missed some?"

On the other hand, she only burned one batch! BANNER DAY FOR KARLA!

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"No, it's -- are these from your home?" Katniss wondered, because they didn't taste like anything she'd had here or in Twelve or even in the Capitol. "They're, um, very different!"

[wwiii]

Warren had bought a few bottles of Coke before they'd gotten too far into the zoo.

Thank goodness for vending machines, and Warren's keen eye. He knew what Karla with a container like that meant, and now he was giving Katniss a wry little smile as he offered her the bottle.

"Next time, plug your nose while you chew," he suggested, quietly enough that he hoped Karla wouldn't hear.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I've had worse," Katniss offered quietly after gratefully taking the bottle and ridding her mouth of that taste. "But usually it's because I found it in the woods under a rock or something. It's an art, cooking something like that."

[wwiii]

"It takes talent," Warren agreed, giving his head a bemused shake. "If she offers me any, the ostriches are getting them, I think."

Those poor things.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"They can't possibly be smart animals," Katniss offered, craning her neck to look at them. "Look how little their heads are. They won't know the difference between good or bad taste."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh! Yum! Cookies.

NO WES DON'T DO IT IT'S A TRAP.

"Those look quite good," Wes said only somewhat absently as he scanned the area for any signs that might suggest that zebras were afoot. He really liked zebras, okay?

[glacial_queen]

"Thanks!" Karla said, beaming. "I made them right before the portal was scheduled. They're a little free-form, because I had to make them from memory."

Which meant they were even worse than normal. Best of luck with that, Wesley!

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

From... memory. And they were cookies. Well, how bad could they be? They looked great!

"Might I try one?" he asked politely.

Poor kid.

[glacial_queen]

That was because Karla had finally learned the important lesson of 'making the oven hotter doesn't lead to better cookies.' She was very proud of herself.

"You can have more than one you poor thing," Karla said with a laugh. "They're yours. I promised, remember? As a thank you?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh, right! Well, it seemed inappropriate to bring up what exactly she was thanking him for, since resurrection wasn't really a popular topic of discussion on these kinds of outings (or was it? He wasn't really the most social guy, remember). He took a cookie, intending to mull it over some more, and was promptly distracted by the taste of -- was that gravel?

Oh. Wow. Yeah. That was... not tasty.

[wwiii]

Warren leaned over Wesley's way, giving him a sympathetic smile and offering him the bottle of Coke that he'd been carrying around, as a Karla-cookie chaser.

Wesley probably wouldn't have believed him if he'd told him that the cookies were likely laced with some kind of toxic waste anyhow, right?

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley reached out and took the Coke gratefully, then chugged almost the entire thing in one sip. His eyes were actually tearing up from those awful, awful cookies, so the chaser was very welcome.

"Thank you," he breathed, blinking rapidly to try to stop his eyes from stinging. "Er. Does she make those often?"

[wwiii]

"Only whenever she wants to impress people, I think," Warren replied, quietly. "I think her other leaders at the support and magic reserves have managed to convince her to stick to J,GoB cookies for meetings, but newbie days are sometimes kind of..."

He wrinkled his nose again. Yeah. He had a healing factor, and even he hadn't thought he'd survive that first cookie.

"I've taken to telling her that I like them very much, grabbing as many as I can, and then leaving them for the ducks."

Which would explain why the ducks were so neurotic, really.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Poor ducks.

"A wise choice," Wesley agreed. Because hey, better the ducks than him, right? Sad but true. Glancing hopefully around the zoo, he wondered, "Perhaps the, ah, the animals might want to sample some of them? Anything to deplete the current supply..."

Except who was to say that the animals would really want them? It was a sad, sad day when zoo food was more appetizing than homemade cookies. And yet.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I don't think she's intentionally trying to poison us or anything," Katniss assured him in a whisper.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I hope not," Wes murmured back with a bit of a half-smile. "Honestly, British cooking is known to be somewhat subpar, but this is truly dreadful."

Then again, Katniss ate squirrel. So. A little bit of perspective would be nice there.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I've eaten things from the woods that tasted better. I cook better than this," Katniss mumbled with a wrinkled nose. And that was really saying something, since Katniss considered "leaf soup" to be a thing.

[wwiii]

Warren was trying so, so hard to not wrinkle his nose at the cookies. He really was!

Really, his self-control in that regard was pretty admirable.

He was pretty quiet today, fairly interested in the zoo around them, letting his attention wander to whatever exhibit was near enough to inspect at a glance.

Not because there was anything in the world to be awkward about, no. Why?

God, people were going to actually put those cookies in their mouths...

[glacial_queen]

Really, if Warren didn't at least try to warn them, he could probably be charged as an accessory.

"Hi," Karla said, a little awkwardly, thus defeating Warren's narrative. "What made you guys decide on a zoo?" Then, realizing that that might sound like a criticism, quickly added, "I think it's a really good idea! I was just, you know. Wondering."

[wwiii]

"Why not a zoo?" Warren glanced her way, and then realized that his reply might have sounded a touch defensive, so he pressed on. "I mean, I haven't really been to one, in about as long as I can remember. Maybe when I was a little kid, but besides that...?"

The Worthington household hadn't really been big on family outings, after a certain point.

And heck, not really much before, either.

[glacial_queen]

"I haven't been, either," Karla said, stepping back slightly to give him more space. "I know Kalush's family has a menagerie in Kharkhava, but I've never seen it. And sometimes traveling troupes will have a few tame creatures, but that's not the same thing. Though one troupe once had a bear in a funny hat..."

And, okay, she was babbling. She shut her mouth quickly and glanced away. "I'm glad you guys picked a zoo," she said a moment later. "It's nice to see one. Thanks for inviting me along."