Pumpkin patch
Multi pov
It had been back in February when Bastion had brought Carina and Orion to Greenbelt farms to see the petting zoo it boasted. Both his children had been younger then and excited for the chance to get out of the house and do something new together. They'd also had a chance meeting with another of Orion's kind though unlikely they'd run into another herald today.
Still it was sort of nice to be back here, even if Bastion was still not entirely comfortable on a farm. They hadn't really taken a family trip in a while and while he was doing his best to not utterly ignore his children Bastion could tell there was resentment at times when their want and need of him conflicted with his work schedule. It was not easy to balance his job and being a decent parent.
Today though was for them, ok and for him but it was still a family thing, he'd asked them to come along and help pick out the pumpkins that would become the jack -o - lanterns he'd line the driveway with for Halloween. Normally the man just ordered the pumpkins from a nearby farm and had them delivered to the manor, this year though he wanted to include Orion and Carina in the act of picking them out, something they could all do together.
" Just stick a ribbon on the stem or shell of the pumpkin you want and then look for another one." He explained as he handed out two pre-prepared packages of bright blue ribbon with sticky backing; not dissimilar to what one used on Christmas presents." Once you're out of ribbons you can go pet the animals or play in the corn maze while the farm hands and I load the pumpkins into the van." The regular cars and limo not really being suited to transport like this Bastion had opted to drive the only SUV he owned instead.
Orion nodded " Okay I'm going to go pick out some white ones," he chirped with a slightly rustle of his papery wings before taking off towards the smaller section of the pumpkin patch that featured the rarer white pumpkins.
" I claim the giant ones," Carina shot her father a cheeky grin before taking her package of ribbons and stalking off in the direction of the largest gourds the patch had to offer.
Bastion shook his head and sighed slightly, so much for picking things out together. Perhaps, he mused, while digging out his own ribbons, he needed a different tactic. He was sure they hadn't grown beyond spending time with him yet but maybe family activities were no longer interesting to them. Or perhaps he'd misjudged the type of activity to choose by making them think they should compete to find the best pumpkins.
Whatever the truth was he'd figure it out another day, today Bastion was just going to go along with things.
~
Carina, now finished placing all her ribbons, was a little surprised that Orion was opting not to venture into the corn maze with her. This sort of thing was his element and while she wasn't likely to get horribly lost without him it was still a bit weird to be going in alone. Although, the girl mused, she did plan to cheat a little and use her powers to draw a map on her arm so she could keep track of where she had already been, spending forever accidentally backtracking could get really frustrating and embarrassing.
A few minutes later the redhead was deep within the large maze. Tall dried stalks of corn towered over her and prevented Carina from seeing anyone else in the maze or seeing where each diverting path lead her. That was the point of course but it was a little unsettling when the wind picked up and Carina couldn't be quite sure of what she heard. Was the rustle to her left corn stalks rubbing together or someone trudging their way towards her? Carina had been through a lot of strange and unnerving things lately and this was just another to add to the list.
Still, as she forced herself deeper into the maze, attempting to find her way out, Carina found herself less tense and breathing easier. She knew she was safe here and while she had jumped when a fat , grey furred rodent, she hadn't been able to tell if it was a mouse or rat, scurried past it hadn't been the sort of scare that left her confused or her mouth tasting funny. Although she
was going to insist her father wash the pumpkins before she touched them again.
Carina wasn't quite like most of the kids who traipsed through corn mazes giggling and chasign each other but she was still having fun. She could still enjoy trying to navigate the labyrinth based on guesses and foots prints in the sort of those who had come before her.
~
While Carina went off to try and navigate the corn maze, Orion headed towards what remained of the petting zoo they had visited in early spring. There were of course no baby animals there anymore, as they had grown up over the summer and early fall like he himself had. Still the herald found a few of the friendlier former lambs had been penned up to be fed and petted as well as the nearly full grown spring calves.
There was something the blond couldn't explain about why he enjoyed petting the animals. They were warm and soft but also smelly, and dirty. They weren't as smart as some animals he knew either, still Orion found some sort of comfort in letting his fingers trail over their fleece and hide. Maybe because he had met Michael here or because he knew these animals weren't going to be shot at?
Whatever it was about them that soothed the herald also made Orion smile, even when the sheep nibbled on his new winter jacket. Animals were simple things and right now for Orion, simple was good. He probably could have navigated the twists and turns of the corn maze faster than his sister but he'd resisted the challenge. Somehow here with the smelly breathed calves and play biting sheep felt like the right place to be.
~
By the time the ribbon marked pumpkins had been carefully loaded into the back of the van Carina and Orion had returned to Bastion's side. He smiled down at them as he pulled the top of the van's hatch down. "Alright we're done here, what do you say to stopping for some fudge on the way home." The twin grins that sprouted on his children's faces was all the answer Bastion needed.
It looked like he'd found something they could do together after all.
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