Garbage Day

[the first of these snapshots begins about seven months into their stay within ozma.]

Pumpkin and Cullen walk. They walk pretty frequently, nowadays, actually. They talked a lot, too. Today was no different.

They walked on the mainland in which the ramshackle shack was built. They were a few dozen yalms away from the house as they walked, Pumpkin setting the pace for him. She walked with her cane, tapping the area around her as she went.

However, one particular rock did an expert job of avoiding her detection. Her bare foot catches the rock with force, and she tumbles forward.

Cullen's arm shoots out and wraps around her waist, catching her before her face plants onto the ground.

"I've got you," he says. Her arms clutch his for a moment.

He helps her right herself and looks down with concern in his old, heterochromatic eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asks, quietly and calmly - voice with none of the sarcasm or wit that it usually drips with.

She nods, wincing slightly at the pain inflicted by the stubbed toe. "One does not wander woods and ancient ruins without stubbing one's toes every now and again," she says sheepishly.

"Well, one cannot be too sure. Here, take my arm for now. We can't have any more dastardly rocks attempting any more assassination attempts on our very own member of the Seedseer Council, can we? Kan-E would never forgive me."

He wraps his arm around hers and laughs quietly. She chuckles, a hand covering her mouth as she does, and the two continue on their walk, still keeping a slow, careful pace the whole while.

Risah walked among a flower patch and began to collect a few flowers. All she wanted was to fill a vase with them.

The shack could use a little morrre color.

She hummed to herself as she continued to collect more flowers. Suddenly, her ears flickered to the sound of footsteps up ahead.

"Hm? Oh!"

Her tail curled as her lips formed a smirk. Risah was pleased with the sight in front of her. She definitely believed they were absolutely adorable for each other.

Risah was satisfied with her small bouquet and was ready to head home. Out of the corner of her eye, she watches Pumpkin nearly stumble over. Her tail bristled as her ears flick forward. She almost rushed towards Pumpkin, but Cullen's suave save stopped her in her tracks.

"Oh..."

There's cerrrtainly no room forrr Hal- She gasped. A light bulb lit up in her mind and smacked her across the face. Risah giggled to herself, pleased to see them walk with their arms intertwined.

"Smitten loverrrs. Won't be a secret forrr long."

The chores had been completed, lunch had been cleaned up. Schedules, again, were left wide open and lackadaisical at best. The small community found itself with another lazy afternoon.

Cullen had brought forth a book to Pumpkin from the library that he and Masha'to had stumbled upon years before. It was described as a laughable tale. It told story of of a torrid love affair between a wanton White Mage and an all-powerful Black Mage who shows her the wonders of "the other side, the dark side."

With minimal coercion, Pumpkin agreed to listen to the tale.

*****

Leaning back against another crumbled piece of Amdapor, Cullen was settled in for an afternoon of (unfortunate) reading. They were surrounded by ruins of varying sizes, nestled in between yet another grassy outcropping.

Pumpkin, after some failed attempts to get comfortable, finally found herself in a relatively relaxing position on Cullen's lap. She was on her side, her one horn between his legs, using the middle of his thighs as a pillow. Her tail swayed slightly off the ground in an amount of relaxed contentment.

"Are you ready for this line?" Cullen asked with a smirk in his voice.

A blind eye looked up at him, crinkling with mock disgust. As she continued, the false emotions were replaced by a bemused smile. "How cruel, Cullen. You have gone and broken my immersion. Though... if the rest of this novel was just as cringe worthy, then I simply cannot wait."

"Oh, then brace yourself." He hummed a chuckle. Cullen cleared his throat, "Ahem. Heat and moisture exploded from her core, and the magic flared one final time, in a bright curtain of love and need and trust, faith and hope."

There was a beat of silence.

Pumpkin snickered and Cullen followed in suit with a chuckle of his own. They share in a quiet laugh.

"Oh, is that how it is done, now?" She asked, covering her mouth to muffle any additional laughter.

"Something of the sort, I'd imagine." Cullen returned with a languid smile in his voice, his tone carried a warm sarcasm.

"This novel is dreadful, you know."

"Oh, absolutely. I can read something else to you, if you'd prefer."

"And absolutely not. We have come this far have we not?"

"A compelling argument, Miss Spice. Very well then." His voice trailed back into the awfully written pages with a subdued smile on his face.

The afternoon and the pages carried on between bouts of quiet banter and hums of amusement.

"Thanks a bunch for coming out with me, Kitariel. I can see the books behind this door, but it's jammed up with some rubble, and well... I'm not a young man anymore, and I highly doubt I could have done anything about it if I was!"

Kitariel giggles. "It's no problem, Mister P. I wasn't really doing anything important at the moment anyways. Just because I look focused when I'm sitting around doesn't mean anything is happening... these Echo visions are hard to conjure..."

Kitariel holds up a hand. Masha'to stops. Voices. She puts a finger up to her mouth. He nods, and the two of them creep over towards the door. They peak outside, Kitariel's head below Masha'to's head as they spy on the scene outside of the building.

Pumpkin, laying down in Cullen's lap.... reading to her? The way they laugh, and the way that Pumpkin shifts a little bit closer, to get a little bit more comfortable. The way that Cullen's free hand eventually makes its way down to Pumpkin's head, which teases her hair, which, though recently cut when they had first arrived, now made its way down to her shoulders.

Masha'to and Kitariel look at each other in unison, eyes wide and mouths agape. They pull their heads back into the room and their faces get really close together. They whisper in unison.

"Did you see that?"

"They were really close!"

"Like, really close!"

"That wasn't just me then?" Masha'to says, sounding much like a schoolboy.

"Totally wasn't just you,"

"I think they're an item."

"What was your first guess, old timer?"

"Do... do we tell anyone?"

"Hells no!" Kit says, shaking her head. "I don't want to be the one that says anything. Let someone else do it"

"Hmm. Good point. Pumpkin can be scary when she's irritated... and so can Cullen."

Kit nods. "We pretend like we didn't see anything, then?"

Masha'to nods. "Good plan."

Dinner had come and gone. Fish-chicken had gone over about as well as it could have after months (and years, respectively) of consuming the same thing. The small hut was filled with sounds of (makeshift) clanking dishes. 

Pumpkin wiped down the largest table. She gently collects the crumbs and little bits left over by feel alone. She slowly ran her hand behind the other rag to catch anything she missed. It is not a lot, but it is what she can do.

Cullen stacked the makeshift dishes, toweling them off with a stray piece of found-fabric. On occasion, his odd eyes would flicker to the side, seeming to study Pumpkin's face.

"Pumpkin."

"Yes, Cullen?"

Gently setting down his rag and the dish he was holding, Cullen approached Pumpkin. She turned slightly at the sound of his footfalls. He steps close, almost completely closing the distance between them. He looked down at her with a crinkle in his eyes.

"You've got some leftovers." He offered quietly, bringing a hand up to her cheek and wiping away a crumb that she'd missed. 

Furrowing her brow, Pumpkin pursed her lips and lets out sigh. She resigned herself to her fate. A twinge of embarrassment passed over her face. Somewhere, as she spoke, she let go of the rag to fully face Cullen. "Ah, well. Thank you."

With a hum of amusement Cullen thumbed over her cheek for another moment too long. He traced the outline of the scales on her cheek. Pumpkin leaned into his touch in a bit too-obvious of a fashion, falling immediately for the bait. Cullen releases her cheek and opts swiftly to boop her on the nose. 

The sudden shift and tap left Pumpkin standing straight up, eyebrows and tail raised. Her face read everything. Excuse you?

Cullen chuckled, low. "It wiped the frown off your face, didn't it?"

The surprise and irritation melted away and she chuckled, shaking her head. "You are absolutely incorrigible."

"I did exactly what I needed to, I'd say."

"You swept it right under the rug."

"Ha! Way to mop up the situation."

"I know it's good to dust off the old puns, but shall we finish cleaning up now?"

"Fine, but it's such a chore."

They both snicker and Cullen steps away and pivots back to the dishes. Both he and Pumpkin finish their work in companionable silence, wearing small smiles all the while.

Despite the abundance of food he ate during dinner, Rick decided to head back to the kitchen to see if there were any left overs. He held on to his stomach as it continued to growl.

Oh god, either I've grown a huge appetite today or the really is something wrong with the food in this place...

As he neared the door, he saw Pumpkin and Cullen there, he was going to say hi until Cullen booped her nose. In that moment he hid and gave a huge gasp and covered his mouth.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! HE BOOPED HER NOSE! WHO BOOPS PEOPLES NOSES?! WHY SOMEONE WHO YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THAT'S WHO!

"It wiped the frown off your face, didn't it?"

"You are absolutely incorrigible."

"I did exactly what I needed to, I'd say."

"You swept it right under the rug."

"Ha! Way to mop up the situation."

"I know it's good to dust off the old puns, but shall we finish cleaning up now?"

"Fine, but it's such a chore."

well that confirms it, those two are DEFINITELY interested in each other

Rick takes a peak at what they're doing and they were doing the dishes, however, he takes note of their smile and he also smiles at how happy the two are.

Those two definitely needed eachother, first I get to see Pumpkins more fun side, then I get to know more about my father in law, and NOW those two are in love. What a strange world this is.....

Rick began to think about whether or not to tell the others, but he then began to picture the punishments he would receive from both Cullen and Pumpkin and his face turned pale.

I think I'll let the others figure it out on their own....

Rick then crawled his way out as stealthily, yet stupid, as possible

Pumpkin and Cullen sat by the river, filling up water skins for the day.

"Pumpkin," Cullen starts, "now, hear me out. You know how I've been helping to train Rick in some of my old Thalguard techniques? Well, I was thinking about just filling his water skin with piss to see if he noticed. Is that too cruel? I think perhaps it is."

Pumpkin scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Cullen, please. I hardly think that's appropriate. Besides, I daresay Rick is vigilant enough to notice such a thing immediately."

"Is he?" Cullen asks. Pumpkin doesn't even dignify that one with a response. "Oh, relax. I can let you get in on the test as well. After all, holy water would be a much more effective challenge to identify than ordinary urine. That is a side effect of becoming a White Mage, is it not?"

Pumpkin scoffs, raises the water skin she was filling, and attempts to splash Cullen in the face. Unfortunately, her aim was a bit off, and she only managed to splash him with a small fraction of the water. Cullen's eyes widen and his jaw drops.

"You just tried to splash me," he says plainly.

Pumpkin smirks. "I did nothing of the sort," she says.

"Oh," Cullen says, a devilish grin playing across his face. "You don't know what battle you've just started, Miss Spice,"

"What are you-? Oh!" Pumpkin exclaims as Cullen wraps his arms around her waist and scoops her forward, tossing her forward into the water. "No no no no no!" she says, panicking and flailing her arms, reaching out to grab anything she can as she falls into the water. She hits the jackpot, grabbing Cullen right around the collar, pulling him off balance and into the water with her.

Pumpkin brushes the sopping wet hair from her face and shakes her head with an exasperated sigh.

"Have you had your fun, Mister Blackwood?" she spits, looking around for some indication as to where exactly she was in the river, or where he was. She got a pretty strong indication when a splash of water engulfs her face a moment later. Cullen cackles.

But, only for a moment

The river itself seems to rebel against him. Water begins to rise on all sides of him. Pumpkin's eyes glow, her hair whipping around herself as the tides form and rise around him, finally collapsing upon him. In the wash of the water afterwards, Cullen is nowhere to be found. A moment later, he pops his head back above the surface, spitting water between raucous laughter.

The two quickly escalate their engagement into a full-scale splash fight for a good few minutes, before Pumpkin begins to shiver in the chill of the river. Cullen helps the trembling au ra out of the river, the two of them still laughing, and still moving a bit closer together than perhaps they should have been. He departs for a brief moment before returning with a bundle of long cloths to use as towels. He wraps a large, absorbant white cloth around Pumpkin.

She looks up at Cullen and smirks, eyes unfocused and voice trembling from the cold. "Are you c-certain it is a good idea for an old man like you to be taking imp-promptu baths in frigid water? I can scarce imagine it would be good for your j-joints."

Cullen laughs softly, looking down at her. He brushes a strand of sopping hair behind her horn. "Perhaps not... but I'm feeling pretty warm right now, for some reason." He bends down and gives her a short, poignant, passionate kiss. She resists for a moment - this was hardly the time or the place - but relents before long.

"A thousand pardons, Miss Spice," he says, low and quiet, a smile flickering through his eyes. "I couldn't help myself.

Pumpkin rolls her eyes again, a faint blush warming her chilly cheeks. "You truly are incorrigible."