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"That's ok. I want to surprise my family with them." And get them all into the season and it's traditions, including but not limited to pumpkin carving. She wanted to try as many things she could for this holiday, and it's many traditions. She was figuring her and the rest of her family should look into costumes soon - really soon. If they wanted to get anything good at least, unless they pieced something together...like real clothing.

"I would bring them but I'd have to let my cousin, and his husband, know and since I want to surprise them all." Unless she brought everyone here without telling them. "Perhaps I will do both. Bring some home and bring them here - this is lasting for more than just today right?" If they enjoyed it at home than she would bring them to carve some more and perhaps pick out some things as well. It would be a lovely idea really. The more she could introduce them, and herself, to fall and what it meant.

It wasn't like she hadn't lived here a few years now, she had, but they hadn't followed the fall holidays too much. They'd tried making Thanksgiving dinner and given candies to kids at their apartment door but not too much else. This year she wanted it to all be different. There was a reason this year, at least she thought so.

"The more we can do with the fall I think the better."

If anyone had made that particular critique to Thomas, it was very unlikely that he’d have done anything but what he currently was, aka, wearing white whenever he wanted, because it looked damn good with his hair.
Hard to clash with white to be fair, but he preferred it all the same.

Then again, anyone with that many piercings in their ears alone probably didn’t ascribe to the standard views on fashion.

He paused to take in the scents of the hand made soaps, pleased and casual, though he was eying the cider bar mostly casually. Whatever he could do for a little sinful indulgence sounded just about perfect. He set the soaps aside for now, he could come back for the soap, but the cider? Oh that sounded far too good to pass up.

He fished out his ID, just in case and kept it in hand as he approached to see what could be sampled.

The idea of Marnie making Maggie over was intriguing, but Maggie liked to have a little more control over the final look. She didn't know if it would go well if she tried to call many shots. Marnie had vision too, after all. "Maybe," she said, thinking on it. "It could be fun for one night of Halloween. Let you pick whatever I wear, go nuts." Maggie tended to celebrate Halloween for all the weeks of October and at least the first of November too. It was a loose commitment, but one she'd follow through on if the other girl was up for it.

It was all quickly steered toward the reason for their presence here, other than the PSL and general fall merriment: one Thomas Hunt. "He's just the bold type, you know, I mean -- look at that hair. That is confidence. He bucks the norm. It's so chic. He probably goes by Tom but spells it Thom with an H and everything." Plus, he was more than five years older than her. Wiser. Mature. The kind of person Maggie obviously needed to be with because she was so mature. "I don't need another silly high school boy in the same jeans and shirt as every other high school boy." Maggie regarded Nolan. "No offense, Nole, to your high school boy brethren. You are obviously a cut above." Otherwise Maggie wouldn't hang out with him, duh.

"So, plan of attack! Hang back for a bit, looking casual and awesome, see what booth he goes to and BAM. Go there too. Proximity, you know, is the main cause of two people becoming interested in one another -- he's on the move!" Maggie, though, wasn't. She was apparently waiting for a cosign from her compatriots.

"It's going on all weekend," Rhona nodded with a wide smile. "If you want to come back tomorrow, we'd be more than happy to have you." Rhona then swept an arm out, leading thr way to the back by way of carefully laid cobblestone steps lined intermittently with hay bales, bright, fall-colored flowers, and pumpkins both carved and not.

"Marcus," Rhona called to the shaggy-haired high school boy manning the carving station, "This woman is going to be purchasing a pumpkin from us, but then taking it home. And if she comes by tomorrow, give her and her brood half priced gourds, alright?" The boy grinned and flashed a bright grin and game a pumpkin-gut covered thumbs up.

"So, do you need help picking them out? I can also get us something to help get the pumpkins to your car or whatever if you need.



Heather Beauchamp, a mousey girl of merely fourteen years of age, was the one assigned to man the face painting station. She had gotten some lessons from Rhona's (really freaking pretty and youtube famous) girlfriend, but she was still unsure. Lavender had brought by what seemed like hundrens of jars of cosmetic paints and Heather just stared at them with her mouth slightly open even now.

So far, though, it had been so good. She had painted butterfly wings on the sides of kids' faces, made others into jack-o-lanterns, and even turned a few into super heros. And then there had been Lavender's specialties that she'd taught Heather, like a batty forehead scene, a simple sugar skull, and a few decals like cute pumpkins, bats, and spiders on webs.
Her favorite design, however, was a set of halloween freckles. No had burned down her tent yet. So that was good. Right?

Heather looked up as a child, maybe as old as her own brother, caught sight of her set up and looked utterly, amazingly, spectacularly excited. Heather smiled back and waved both at her and the toddler she had in toe.

"Hey," she called warmly, "welcome to the Farmer's Daughter Harvest Festival!"



When Thomas flashed his ID, an older woman of around forty smiled and passed him a clear glass inscribed with the shop's name. Before him were decanters of all shapes with hand lettered signs describing the variations of spiking. One was cinnamon cider, flavored with fireball, and another had been mingled with Grand Marnier for a slightly citrus tinge. Others were spiked with rum punch, dark whiskey, and even caramel vodka. The possibilities, it had seemed, here endless.

"Done and done boo-boo," Marnie replied, making a kissing motion with her lips before she was back to sipping her beverage and squinting at the boy who was Maggie's latest conquest.

"Ooooh, he's old enough to drink, scandalous." It didn't matter that sometimes Marnie drank cider in the comfort of her apartment because her mom basically gave her whatever she wanted, she wasn't old enough to drink, legally, but this boy was, which really wasn't surprising but she wanted to pretend like it was.

Nolan spoke up and Marnie gave him her full attention, latte half lifted so that she could enjoy that sweet, sweet PSL as she did so. "Look, Nolie," Marnie started, deciding that was an okay nickname because nicknames were the best, "we gotta get some recon on white-hot-hottie before Mag-a-rie over her does any sort of talking."

He was being reasonable and giving them ideas that were really, probably best, but they weren't as fun. She moved to sling an arm around his shoulder. "C'mon, it's an aaadventure."

Maggie was staring in a way that she thought was casually cool in Thomas's direction, hoping to catch his eye, but turned her eyes puppy-dog when she faced Nolan. "It's an adveeeeeenture!" Maggie echoed, taking Nolan's other arm. "Definitely another latte. And okay, I promise I will owe you, like, four trips to whatever Renn Faire you choose as payback. Kay? Kay." She had answered her own question, but better that than have him peace out of the situation. Nolan was a new friend and she wasn't sure how entertained he would be by the idea of stalking someone, okay. And three was a much better number! That way, when Maggie and Thomas instantly fell in love and started their first date in the middle of the festival, Nolan and Marnie could still hang. No one would be alone. It was foolproof, right? Right.

"Think he'd buy me a drink?" she said, with an eyebrow waggle. Maggie was too young to drink and really wasn't too interested in it. She got high on LIFE, okay? But the idea of someone buying her a drink romantically felt so adult and grown up and awesome that the teen thirsted for it.

However, none of it was to be so. There was a hub-bub at the pumpkin carving station. Maggie turned and said, "What, did someone hurt themsel---OHGOD!" The pumpkin sprang to life in a distinctly magical way, which had the secret senshi glancing about for any place to hide. Unfortunately, everything was out in the open or seemed locked. But there were civilians here. Didn't she have a duty?

"Creepy DC weirdness incoming!" she said. Somehow, she had the wherewithall to set her PSL down gently on the ground before unceremoniously grabbing the nearby scare crow and tugging free one of the wooden rods giving shape to his shoulders. Hay sprang out, but now she was at least armed!

Now it was good they had three. This was some Charlie's Angels magic. Giving a nod at her friends, she said, "I can stop it!" and chased after the puking thing. Unfortunately, it managed to vom out some slippery pumpkin slop, and Maggie went skidding by, pole still held aloft but ultimately futile.

Well, that could have gone better.

Yes, coming back tomorrow was something she would try and accomplish. Tonight though she was going to surprise her family. "I can purchase more than one? To bring home? "She asked softly, not wanting to upset the other who was being so kind to her, letting her purchase a pumpkin to bring home rather than carving it here and now. She would, of course, come back tomorrow with her family! But to let her bring one home was very kind, and the other female didn't need to do such for her.

"Oh! No, no. You don't need to discount us tomorrow! It's fine by me to pay the normal price. I wouldn't ask for a discount." She said waving her hands about before smiling. "It would be nice...the pumpkins here aren't what they have back home to eat...so I'm rather unsure." She answered honestly before looking towards Marcus, hoping for some help from him. "I can get them out to the car, it won't be too hard." It just would mean going one at a time, if she was allowed more than one pumpkin today.

What she wasn't expecting was, while looking over the pumpkins, was one to come alive not too far away. It spat guts onto the female who had helped her, who had been so kind to her, and it took off bouncing and spitting up it's insides. Just how much did it have to spit up? It seemed like a bit too much. But she didn't think too much on that, at least not for long, as she was moving to grab a spade she found laying about. Going for the pumpkin she went to try and stab at it. Only for someone else to have handled it.