C&J, I didn't know how Verdant talked, so I just did it regularly, but let me know how they actually talk. 

+Cyrria+ 

+Sometimes I wish I could just…disappear. I'm sitting on my handmade blanket, eating the strawberry vanilla croissants I brought. And literally no one is paying any attention to me.+

+To be fair, it's not like I have any interest in walking up to someone random. But a guilty hope clings to me–that maybe someone else would do that to me. I scan the enormous park, looking for a friendly face, another loner who isn't engaged in conversation. My eyes land on a tall person with brown skin and rumpled brown. Green tips the edges, and I'm immediately jealous. I've been meaning to dye my hair, but no color has suited me so far. But it looks so good on them.+

+And a leather jacket! Wow. I could never pull that off. I'm going to have to stick with my basic pink and cream outfits.+

+Then their warm brown eyes meet mine. I instantly glance back at the ground, embarrassed to be caught staring. After a few moments, footsteps crunch grass nearby, and my eyes flit back up. Oh no. It's them. That gorgeous, cool person I was staring not thirty seconds ago.+

+"Can I…sit here?" A small smile tugs at my lips, and I nod.+

+"+Of course.+" 

And I wrote this and forgot to send it. Again. Oops.

Meg

"Yea, actually." I pull my sketchbook out of my bag. "Do you want to see?" I say. I realize I'm still just kind of standing awkwardly. "Can I sit here?" I say, looking at the spot next to Mirage.

Five

I smile. "So, how've you been? What have you been up to?" 

Friendo:

Knowt goes racing off after Knight with murder in his eyes. Who knows, it certainly seems like Knight is just as unruly as Knowt, so maybe once Knowt is done getting his revenge they'll become friends. Goodness knows Knowt could certainly use a friend.

I toss my last beanbag, which plops into the grass nowhere close to the board, but oh well, I tried, and I'm still winning anyways, unless Barnacle gets the next throw perfect, which actually I wouldn't be surprised by because Barnacle seems like he can do anything. I grin. Even if I were to lose this game I would still count it as a win, because Barnacle seems to think I'm worth spending time with, so much so that he even wants to spend more time with me after.

~~~

Verdant's Form (for more detail, there's a longer form in the AE Diaries thread):

Name: Verdant, although most people call them Dante, and the people close to them call them Vey or Vere.

Age: 15ish, maybe 16. Not final yet.

Gender & Pronouns: AMAB, nonbinary, they/them.

Appearance: They're tall, with medium brown skin and deep amber brown eyes. Their hair is dark brown, short, and spiky, and the tips of their hair are dyed deep green. They've got multiple ear peircings and wear a number of friendship bracelets. They're almost always wearing their leather jacket, and they've often got leaves and other bits of plants in their hair. They will sometimes have vines or other plants growing on and around them. Can often be seen carrying a sketchbook and pencils/other art supplies.

Personality: Very shy and sometimes a little sheepish. Very kind. Will never lie unless to protect themself or others. Introverted, prefers to have a few very good relationships over a whole lot of lesser ones. Has keen intuition, good at reading body language, always seems to know where everybody else in the room is, and what they're doing, even if they can't see them.

Shipping: Yes, with boys and NB/genderqueer/agender/etc. Also looking for friends for them.

Other: 

~~~

Verdant:

I'm scanning the crowd, looking for a good place to sit. Maybe somebody to talk to, somebody who looks quiet and introverted like me, and will talk just the right amount–not too much, not too little. If I can't find anybody, I guess I can always tag along with Skree and doodle in my sketchbook.

I randomly make eye contact with somebody chilling on a blanket. They've got creamy skin and wavy brown hair, and they look pretty nice. Plus, they've got a platter of strawberry vanilla crossants, which I've never had before but look amazing. We sorta stare at each other for a few seconds and then I'm pretty sure we both break eye contact at the same time out of embarrasment. 

I figure I have nothing to lose and possibly a friend and a few yummy pastries to gain, so I make my way through the crowd to where they're sitting.

"Can I… sit here?" I ask.

They nod, and say "+Of course.+"

I settle down on the blanket next to them. After a moment of awkward silence and pointedly not looking at each other, I speak up.

"Um… Hi. I'm Verdant, they/them, but you can call me Dante if you want, since Verdant is sorta a weird name. But so is Dante, I guess, so…" I trail off and grimace painfully at how that came out.

Ugh, I'm such an introvert. I can picture how the other AEs would have handled this with ease, but I couldn't mimic them for the world. Skree would be blunt and to the point and not care in the least if somebody thought him rude. Friendo would be easygoing and happy, instantly charming whoever he would be talking to. Torch would roll up to somebody and introduce themselves with heaps of enthusiasm. On the one hand, I don't know why making eye contact is so scary for me, and on the other hand, why isn't everybody else terrified of eye contact? I mean, it's literally HUMAN INTERACTION, which is undeniably scary, but even worse, although I can't exactly pinpoint why it's worse.

I feel something shift on my head, and I know it's one of the leaves or bits of plants that are always in  my hair, reacting to my anxiety. Ugh, why are there leaves in my hair? It looks like I don't know how to use a hairbrush, but the truth is, no matter how hard I try I just can't manage to keep them out. I literally walk under a tree branch for two seconds and a billion little plant bits somehow fall into my hair. It's never particularly bothered me before, but social interactions always bring out the little things that undermine my confidence. Not that I've got much confidence to begin with.

Oh and also, @~Amarillis~, I realize I forgot to mention that Verdant doesn't have a specific way they talk–none of our AE's do. I just put their name before whatever they say in my posts.

Verdant: Like this!

Or if they're interrupting the post in the middle of the line, I'll put it in triangle brackets. <<Verdant: Like this!>> That way I don't have to do a whole new paragraph every time they say something. 

In an RP, I just type their words normally. 😀

~Shyla~ 

~"{So, uh, what do you like to do in your free time?}"~ Crawaline asks. I think about that.

~"~Well,~" I say cheerfully. "~I really like ropes courses! Also track, I do hurdles and sprints for the Junior CB Team. And if I'm just at home, well…probably just Simpsons reruns and eating Cyrus's food. He's thinking of starting a bakery. I also bake…but only a little. I just make baklava.~" I realize I've been talking forever. Oops?

~"{That's cool! I really like to–}" Just then, a girl with long (like, really, really long) red hair bounds over. The color reminds me of Arden's, only a little lighter. 

~"Hi! I'm Firefly! I love your outfit!" the girl–Firefly–says brightly. Then she looks from me to Crawaline. "Oh, um…were you talking?" She reminds me of myself, in a good way, and I guiltily kind of want to talk to her.  

~"{It's okay…you..you can go. We'll talk later.}" Crawaline answers, forcing a smile. 

~"~Thank you, thank you!!!!~ I say happily, giving xem a big hug. "~Let's talk once I'm finished, okay?~" Xe nod. I feel terrible, but….this is the girl Amarillis told me to talk to…I think.

~"~So, I'm Shyla, nice to meet you! Am has been talking endlessly about how much I'll like you–~" I pause mid-sentence, realizing how that sounds. "~By the way, I love your wings! And your dress!~"~

~Mirage~

~"~Oh, I'd love to see your art! So, what mediums do you primarily use?~" I ask, nodding to Meg's sketchbook. "~Oh, and of course you can sit down! I'm so sorry.~" I scoot to the side, making more room for Meg to sit down. All the while, I'm cringing inwardly for not offering Meg a seat.~

Barnacle

I throw my last beanbag, and it lands on the board, right above the hole. "Come on, come on…." But instead of sliding down and falling into the hole like I'd hoped, the beanbag clings stubbornly to the board. "Ah, well. So, that's three to one — you win! Good game." I grin, holding out my hand for Friendo to shake. "So, uh, wanna go try the food? You think we can sample everything? There's a lot of food, but we can try."

this is kind of rushed because i have to go somewhere in like two minutes aaah–

\Kaspar\

\We sit down on the picnic blanket. Poinsettia and Stormi are next to pangolin, so somehow Arum and I end up sitting next to each other. I don't know why that makes me feel oddly… excited?\

\I take one of the sandwiches out of our picnic basket and take a bite while Arum tries the ice cream. I find myself hoping she'll like it. Which is ridiculous. I never cared about what anyone thought of me before.\

\|"Hey, Kaspar, this stuff's actually pretty good! What other weird tastes do you have?|" Arum asks, much to my relief. I smile at her. "Well, I'm not that much of a 'weird tastes' person," I joke. "If you ignore the macaroni and cheese ice cream, and how the walls of my room are currently light blue, and my liking for chocolate-covered blackberries…" I laugh.  "Idk, I just like to try new stuff. You?"\

Stormi

"What about you guys? Have you been here before?" pangolin asks us. My mouth happens to be full of amaretti biscuit, so I let Poinsettia answer.

"I think we did come here once before," she says. "We were on a group outing and Ariella – she's another of my AEs –  happened to stumble across it. But we must have been at the other end of the park, because I don't remember this area at all." She tips back her head a bit, letting the sunlight fall on her face. "I love it here… There's something about green open spaces that just feels right. Or is that just me?"

Friendo:

I shake Barnacle's hand. I may or may not be grinning like an idiot.

"Wanna try the food?" Barnacle asks. "You think we can sample everything? There's a lot of food, but we can try."

"Absolutely!" I say. "Between the two of us we can taste EVERYTHING! I mean, we might make ourselves sick on sugar, but I bet we can still do it. I mean, if you want."

here's 3 povs- I'll write Ronin and Dawn's tomorrow. I've been going to doctors apointments all day, so I just have these I wrote :p

~

#Tempest#

#I laugh and flash some finger guns as I shift. "#No problem!#" The form is easy enough to shift into- Quinn is right there as reference, anyway. I spin around after I've shifted so they can see the full of it. "#Whatcha think?#"#

Oliver

I plop down next to Fir and watch their hands as they braid the flowers together. "I like to read," I say, "And watch cartoons.  Sometimes I try to draw stuff, but it doesn't usually go well." I pull GG into my lap and stroke his fur. "What about you? What do you do?"

Writing

I finish setting out the food and look around. Aria floats over to me and makes a small  "mrrpz?" sound. I don't know many CBers well, but I'm the host, so I better talk to someone. I wander over to one of the few people I do know and tap her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Starli!" I say, smiling, "You want some lemonade?"

~

if anyone wants to get food, go ahead :3 

I didn't mean to interrupt Crawlaline and Shyla's conversation! I only meant for Firefly to notice Shyla, not necessarily talk to her if she was talking to someone else! I'm so sorry. 🙁 I guess I might as well post Firefly's part?

Firefly's POV: 

She says her name is Shyla. "Wow, that's a really pretty name." Oh no, did I say that outloud? That's such a weird thing to say, especially around a really cool person such as Shyla. "Um, thanks for the compliments!" I smile. "Ooh, is that baklava? Can I try some? I love baklava."