Welcome to Gaia! ::

Periwinkle was humming a bit as he started to unload the first few pumpkins from the truck. Although it was cold outside, his ears and loading and unloading the pumpkins was keeping him warm. It also seemed like it was going to be an ordinary delivery this time. “Unlike last time…” He muttered to himself, shivering at the thought of the creepy child who said that they wanted to take his ears. He didn’t mind children, but he couldn’t help but think of them as a bit creepy when they said they wanted to take parts of his body home.

Today though he had taken a quick look around to see if there were any more children outside that may have interrupted him, but they seemed to be busy inside right now. Which meant that he could do the delivery in peace without causing an accident to someone else when they got in his way. He let out another sigh as he put the next pumpkin on the cart and mumbled to himself that his sister should at least be helping him.

It was Megan's lunch break and she had just picked up Riley from the playroom. This routine had become like clock work since he was enrolled at the academy. Luckily for them both staff spending time with their children on site was highly encouraged. It seemed like any other day, a little chilly but with all her extra fur Megan was always toasty. The pair was making their way to the dining hall when Riley broke away from his mothers grasp and darted out an open door. In a panic Megan called after him. Once outside she noticed her son making a bee line for what appeared to be.. a giant truck of pumpkins? By the time she caught up to him Riley was excitingly hugging a rather large pumpkin on the ground. Mommy Mommy look pumkins!. While relieved Riley was alright she was so busy scolding him for running off she didn't notice the truck owner approached them. Riley you know better. You could've gotten hurt running off like that and these aren't yours. Despite her words it would seem the child was not convinced and was quite smitten with the giant pumpkin next to him. In truth she didnt know why the truck was here. She'd never been around for such deliveries in the past.

Peri flinched at the sound of a child’s voice and visibly braced himself for any children who may be running up to tug on his ears. Yet it was then he heard the child yelling about one of the pumpkins, and Peri managed to open up one of his eyes and saw well… quite a scene before him. It looked like one of the freshlings was hugging one of his pumpkins. Peri let out a sigh of relief. At least the kid wasn’t going for his ears then!

He was walking over to the kid to try to encourage him to let go of the pumpkin when he noticed that the child’s mother had come out and Peri couldn’t help but blush a little. She was quite beautiful. But then he heard the child again and realized that the pumpkin was still being held tightly by the kid and Peri couldn’t help but shake his head at the scene.

He walked up to the two of them. That’s how big our pumpkins usually are. He said once he was within talking distance to the two of them. At the same time, he was trying to figure out the best way to get the kid off the needing-to-be-delivered pumpkin and also away from his ears. Unfortunately, this pumpkin belongs to someone else. But you can take a picture of it if you want? It was just a pumpkin after all, but the kid couldn’t take it either considering that it would eventually rot if they did take it and not use it. I have a lot more at my farm though if you want to get one. Best to advertise his business somehow!

Megan was startled by the sudden third voice, turning to realize it was probably the truck owner. It had been awhile since she talked to someone who wasn't a coworker. Oh goodness. I'm so sorry about this. I bake a lot and I always let him pick out our baking pumpkins from the market. I've yet to take him to a proper patch so him this is huge. She laughed a bit embarrassed. Upon hearing from the stranger he could not keep the pumpkin Riley frowned but reluctantly let go and lung to his mother’s leg instead. He did however seem quite excited to visit the man’s farm. Megan smiled. "That’s a very generous offer. My best friend has a berry patch out in the country but it would be quite a treat to see a pumpkin farm. Wouldn't it Riley?" She patted his head as he still clung firmly to her side. "I'm Megan, I council children here. And this is my son Riley. It’s his first year at academy.. he’s still adjusting to strangers."

“Well that explains it.” Peri thought as he looked at the kid. No wonder the freshling was so interested in the pumpkin. At least the kid let go. That meant that their mother must be pretty good if they so easily, though with reluctance on their face, let go of the pumpkin. She told him about the berry patch and mentioned that the child’s name was ‘Riley’. At least he had a name for the kid now!

Peri gave a nod to Megan. It wouldn’t be a problem. We have tours all the time, though right now it would only be through the greenhouses since we can only grow there because of the cold weather. It had been incredibly expensive to get the greenhouses, but the farm had grown large enough and they had enough workers that they could afford to grow pumpkins year round. That and they could finally deliver them pretty much anywhere.

I’m Periwinkle. He made a face at that. He never really liked the name, mostly because it caused him to be teased. But I go by Peri. He looked at the freshling. First year huh? Well the Academy is a fun place! Okay so that was a complete lie by Peri. He had been bullied all of his years at the academy and had even tried to graduate early for quite a while. But he couldn’t tell the truth to a kid who had just started. And besides, the kid didn’t look like he could be bullied for the same things Peri was, which included tugging on his very long ears. The kid had that going for them at least.

"That sounds lovely. I could always use a nice pie pumpkin. It’s always so tricky to find one that makes a good filling." She listened intently as the mutant introduced himself. "Well it’s nice to meet you Peri." Megan noticed Riley pulling on her sweater."Oh right.. lunch!" She looked back to Peri. "We were on our way to the dining hall before someone..got distracted. I don’t suppose you'd like to join us? There’s a buffet during classroom hours. If not I totally understand." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her crystal phone. "However I wouldn't mind your contact info. Incase I decide to take you up on that tour. Again...very sorry to have interrupted you."

Peri felt himself blushing again. Well, I still have the rest of these pumpkins to unload, but it shouldn’t take long! He almost let out a squeak when she suggested exchanging contact information, but then remembered that he had offered her and Riley a tour. He almost felt a bit disappointed. But he took out his phone too. Sure. And if the pumpkins take too long I can text you or something and we can have lunch some… other time? He didn’t want to make it sound like a date-date if she didn’t want it to be, but lunch with someone else that wasn’t his sister was always welcome.

He shrugged. Your fine. I’ve had… worse. He said, trying to hide his shiver. Honestly did he have to tie his ears behind him or something to keep others away from them?

After exchanging numbers Megan put her phone back in her pocket and picked up Riley. It was starting to get chilly and unlike her Riley didn’t have a full time winter coat. "Alright...I understand duty calls. Though should you finish in time we will be in the dining hall. I do hope the salad bar is fresh" She took a moment to explain how to get there from here then proceeded to head back into the building. The man seemed nice enough though she never really intended on meeting someone new like that. Not a very good way to make a first impression.. chasing your son into their produce. She shook her head. "You really put mommy in quite a pickle mr. That nice man probably thinks I'm a crazy pumpkin lady.". After a short walk the two approached the dining hall. Being one of the few periods where most children were in classes or a free period location the hall was filled with various caretakers and teachers who were not currently instructing. It was a small time slot that allowed for reprieve. Megan sat riley in booster seat near the buffet and made them both a plate. For Riley a jelly sandwich hold the peanut butter with a cup of blueberries. For Megan a fresh grilled cheese and side salad.

Peri nodded. He felt himself blushing for some reason, perhaps it was because of the situation? That she was leaving? That he had left the pumpkins for so long that he really didn’t want to go back and get yelled at for taking so long? He didn’t know, but he knew he needed to get them done soon. “I’ll see you then.” He said. And when Megan and Riley had walked away, he immediately went back to the truck to unload the last of the pumpkins and get them in there as quickly as possible.

The drop-off seemed to take forever, but was only a few minutes, and he managed to find his way to the dining hall from the directions that Megan had provided. He quickly spotted them and couldn’t help but think that Riley was a little cute in the booster seat. He went over to join them, grabbing a grilled cheese also with some tomato soup and salad with no dressing. “I uhm, well thanks for inviting me to eat with you.” He said, sitting across from the both of them. He hadn’t ever joined someone that he had barely met while eating so this was… both new and nerve-wracking.

"I could say the same for accepting. Having you sitting here means I don't have to listen to lesson plans or new care-taking strategies. Not everything has to be straight out of guide books." She smiled softly at the man then turned, wiping some jelly off Riley's cheek. "It’s nice to converse with someone outside of the Academy System. I love my job but I prefer the world outside of it" She figured being on a pumpkin farm is pretty out there as far as non-academic careers went. It must be nice being one with nature in that sense.
"At least being with children all the time has its perks. The kitchen staff knows how to make a perfect grilled cheese every time" She cut her sandwich down the middle. There was a crisp crackle as the crust separated and hot gooey cheese oozed out the center.
Riley clapped with amusement and Megan raised an eyebrow "See? Perfect."

“I understand. It’s about doing what makes you happy right?” He watched as her son was amused by the simple sandwich cutting. “It’s kind of nice that kids can be amused by small things. At least appreciate some things more than we do!” He said, chuckling softly. He was about to say something else until his cell phone rumbled and he looked at the text that was just sent to him.

He sighed, put the phone away, and quickly stuffed what he could in his mouth. After getting it down his throat he looked over at Megan. “Hey, sorry to leave you like this. Just got an emergency delivery. Apparently one of our trucks just lost two tires so I need to go and help them.” He quickly grabbed a napkin and with his pen he wrote down his phone number. “If you want to talk again, then there’s my number!” He said, before nodding, saying goodbye to Riley, throwing his food away, and booking it out of there! He felt bad for leaving her so suddenly, but work was calling!

“Oh that’s perfectly alright, I understand. Duty calls”. Megan smiled softly and watched as Peri rushed out of the dining hall. “Well that was nice while it lasted…” Megan hoped that it was infact an emergency call and not just an excuse to leave. She had heard from the other caretakers about how people do that on dates. This hadn't been a date through so that probably wasn't it. She looked down at the napkin. It would appear as if he had forgotten they already exchanged numbers. Still, perhaps she would call him after all. Looking over at Riley who hadn’t even noticed the man had left, she asked. “Would you like to go visit a pumpkin farm Riley? I think we just got an open invitation”. Riley nodded at the mention of pumpkins. So it was settled then.