Periodically she would find herself thinking of the pumpkin that she had carved with Momma. And it seemed that whenever the smiling face of the jack-o-lantern came to mind, it was never enough to reminisce. It always seemed to end in her going to admire him in person. Maybe it was just the science that went into watching the carving slowly wilt over time, but there was also quite a bit of sentimental value intertwined in its fibers as well. She also enjoyed being outside in the garden and around the greenhouse. But when it came to the jack-o-lantern's natural deterioration ... well, it was a shame, because she knew that they couldn't keep it forever. She wanted to. The process of dying was something she was beginning to understand all too well, and it made her sad.

Even still, her paws guided her to the garden surrounding the greenhouse where her mother first showed her how. Pale blue eyes settling on their final result. Even as he was beginning to shrink and fold in on himself- the faint smell of rot setting in, the jack-o-lantern's warped toothy grin brought a very similar expression to her own features. Since she couldn't keep this one, the girl wanted so badly to make another one. However, both Momma and Daddy had made it blatantly clear that blades were something that shouldn't be touched. She couldn't do it on her own. And with an exasperated sigh, she had to accept that. No matter how badly she wanted to do something, she wanted to avoid disappointing her parents even more.

However, she was struck with an idea. Maybe she couldn't do the cutting part on her own ... but if she got everything prepared and ready to go, perhaps then she could find an adult that was willing to pitch in. A hard-set determination illuminated her dainty features as she set to work. First, she would once again, choose her favorite vessel. Talyssa circled around to the side of the greenhouse. In her absence, some of the other pumpkins had already been harvested for various other purposes unknown to her. Yet, there was still a pretty good selection from the ones left remaining. With tail wags of building excitement, she started weaving in and out those left to choose from. Last time she picked an average-sized specimen, nothing extraordinary about it. She set out to make it special. This time, however, her ambitions drove her to find a larger one. Her pale gaze settled on a fairly large pumpkin towards the end of the vine. It was perfect! Now, just to get it to the front of the greenhouse. Which she had a feeling was going to be a lot easier said than done. With a shrug, she set to work.

The part that made it difficult was her pumpkin of choice stood quite a bit taller than it was wide. It was larger at the base, and slightly narrower at the top. Simply put, it was egg-shaped and wasn't exactly cooperative in the direction she wanted to go with it. She laid her shoulder into the brunt of it- toppling it over to its side and ripping it from the vine in one fell swoop. Once free of its bindings, she gave it her best attempt to force it forward. Though it seemed every couple of steps forward they made, it kept trying to circle around back to the direction in which they had come. It took her a few tries to develop a system, and even still, it wasn't easy by any means.

When she was finally able to center the pumpkin in front of the greenhouse where she wanted it, she was nearly too exhausted and frustrated to carry out her original plan. However, she thought allowing herself the opportunity to rest might improve her mood. So, that's what she decided to do. Leaning against her victim, she plopped down to her haunches. Tongue lolling out in a pant as she made an attempt to collect her breath.

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Mercury was doing rounds in the castle grounds. The Hallows territory was almost as familiar to him as his own paws. Certainly, it was starting to feel a lot more like home. It was a nice feeling, knowing how familiar the paths were becoming to him. He could see himself living out his entire life here. If only life would stop throwing him curveballs.

He was just coming up towards the greenhouse, when he came across the sight of the brown wolf and her prize. He paused, taking in the full of it. There was Talyssa, on her haunches, tongue out panting. And beside her, was one of the biggest pumpkins he had ever seen. It was almost as big as the pup was! He trotted forward, tilting his head as he admired pup and pumpkin. “Making friends, are we?” He asked, amusement in his eyes as he came to a stop on the other side of the pumpkin. He took a seat, and leaned on the other side of the pumpkin. Luckily, it made a sturdy rest and he was careful not to put too much weight on it. Just the thought of sticking a hole in her prize was enough to lead him to caution.

WC: 209
total: 884

"Mercury"

After a few minutes of rest, she could already feel her mood improving. Perhaps she should have gone with one of the more reasonably sized ones after all ... but, the hard part was over now, and she certainly wasn't going to roll this one back to where she had found it.

When she heard the tone of a familiar masculine voice, she brightened. "Mercury!" She responded in delight, her pale gaze quickly moving in the direction from which the sound of the spoken word came. Her attention settled on the silhouetted frame that reminded her of the night sky. It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did, it enticed a bout of giggles. "Well, yeah! I guess I am!" She responded gleefully. She looked back to the pumpkin she had just fought out of the gardens. Well, she was certainly giving it her best shot.

Then it struck her. "You can help me!" She started. "I want to carve this pumpkin like the one Momma and I made." Talyssa scrambled to her paws in order to turn around and point an ivory-gloved paw to the wilted jack-o-lantern off to the side of the greenhouse entrance. Her attention lingered only a moment before returning to her actual friend. "But Momma and Daddy specifically said that I can't touch knives." The girl explained, a little more solemnly. "But I bet you can!" Her energy spiking back to where it had been with tail wags of excitement that she just couldn't contain. But then, the thought crossed her mind ... what if Mercury wasn't allowed to use a knife. "Unless they told you not to as well." She echoed from her train of thought. Her focus was glued to him in that moment- eagerly awaiting confirmation if he could be of any use or not.

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“Are you going to introduce me?” Mercury continued as she agreed with gleet that she had been making friends. Interacting with Arts kids was definitely a highlight of any given day, and he offered her an amusement smile, falling silent as she spoke. He obediently brought his attention to the wilting display as she pointed it out to him, and then back to the pumpkin.

The idea that he too was told he couldn’t use knives brought an amusement smile to the Ermis’s face. “I think we can work something out here. How about, you use some of the dye that has been harvested from the flowers to draw what you want on the pumpkin, and i’ll carve out the picture?” He suggested. He was more than happy to be the knife-wielding part of the activity. That kept the pup within the bounds of what she was allowed without missing out on any of the fun. Getting to his paws, he indicated a container of dye, to see what she thought of that part of the plan. “As for the knife.. Do you think these might work just as well?” he asked, raising a paw and extending his elongated and sharp claws. They would be able to pierce the pumpkin just fine, through he might find his paw a little pumpkin stained by the end of it.

WC: 235
total: 1426

"Mercury"

When Mercury asked for a formal introduction, she balked for a moment. Her features flushing as a sheepish grin spread across her features. "He doesn't have a name yet." Come to think of it, she didn't name her first one either. She would have to remedy that.

Once her partner in pumpkin carving had devised a plan, she tuned in to listen eagerly. "That's a great idea!" Talyssa praised. However, she would have never known the dye or its purpose had Mercury not pointed it out to her. It was an excellent invention. But as she was coming up with the design in her mind, Mercury purposed another idea. When he extended his claws, she was immediately impressed. "Wow!" The Carpathius girl held up her own paw to flex her toes. But her own nails weren't anything like Mercury's. In the back of her mind, she had already known that. But now, she was a little disappointed that she didn't have super cool cat-like claws as well. But those feelings faded quickly as her mind returned to their task. "We can certainly try!" Talyssa responded excitedly.

The girl gently dipped the pad of one of her toes into the dye. Satisfied with the wet sensation she felt, she moved to the pumpkin to trace crude triangles for the eyes and nose, and a zig-zagged circle for the mouth. But then, something else flashed in her memory. "Oh, but wait. We gotta cut a hole in the top too, and take out all of his guts." Talyssa distinctly remembered scooping out all the stringy innards the first time she carved one with her mother.

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“You’ll think of something” Mercury said as she admitted to the lack of name. She was quickly taken with his idea of using the dye to draw out the shape she wanted. As she dipped a paw into, he wondered if introducing her to dye had really been a fantastic idea. He had a fleeting image of her painting every available surface of the castle, and her mother having something to say about it. Shaking away the thought, he watched as she started to trace some shapes on her pumpkin friend.

He could assume that the first image was an eye. It could be a mouth, but he reckoned it was too high up for that. As she finished painting he leaned forward - only for her to realise they were missing a vital step of the process. “You know, I think you're right about that” he agreed. “I haven’t carved a pumpkin before, so I think you're the expert of the two of us.” He said, flashing her a smile. “Should I cut the top off about… here?” he asked, tracing a line with his paw near the top of the pumpkin. “and then do we use our paws to scoop out the bits?” He asked. He was sure she would love being able to take the lead.

total: 1927

"Mercury"

When he confirmed that she was right about needing to remove the top first, the girl beamed with enthusiasm. But when Mercury admitted that he had never carved a pumpkin before, she was honestly surprised. Talyssa hadn't expected to be the one teaching today, and she quite liked the idea of it. When the galaxy-studded brute traced out a halo near the top of their victim, she quickly nodded. "Yes! That's perfect." She affirmed, leaning in preparation as she waited for Merc to make the first incision. But before doing so, he had one more question. Another one that she answered with a rapid nod. "That's what Momma and I did." Lyssie started. "But I don't think Momma wanted to get messy, so that was my job." She added. Her pale blue gaze to find his. "It is pretty gross on the inside." But he would see for himself when he cut it open.

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She agreed with his line, and he got to work. Carefully sawing at the pumpkin with his claws. Making a careful line until he had made a full circle. He used another claw to ‘pop’ the top off, and expose the pumpkin bits inside. “I think your mum has the right idea. Why don’t you scoop out the worst of it, and then I’ll start carving while you clean out the rest?” he suggested. That should keep them both busy.

He pushed the pumpkin gently, leaning it towards her so she would have a better vantage to start scooping. He would hold it steady as she got the worst of it out, and then trotted off to pick out a rock in the garden, dragging it forward to give her a step-stall. Enough of the pumpkin was scooped out at this point that he could get started on the carving. Allowing both wolves to be busy at work. He started to sketch a claw across her dye drawing first. Getting the feel for the outline. He didn’t want to screw up the kids' work, after all. “So, this is the second pumpking you’ve carved?” he asked conversationally as he made the first cut.

He squinted, his face an expression of concentration as he made a careful line across the eye. “You seem pretty interested in the growing side of things. Are you thinking of becoming a healer?” He asked her. This was the second time he had found her around the garden after all.

Total: 2341

"Mercury"

Talyssa watched intently as Mercury made the first incision into their subject. The act of his cutting was quite satisfying to witness, as his unique set of claws were quite effective. Once he had completed the circle around the stem, the top came off with ease. Looking inside, it was nearly identical to the pumpkin that she had carved with her mother. But at the sound of his voice, her attention realigned to him. The confirmation that her mother 'had the right idea' left her with a beaming grin. Of course her Momma knew what she was talking about, she was brilliant!

Looking back into the corded clumps of sliminess that clung to the interior of their victim, she was struck with a sense of excitement. When Mercury assigned her the task of being the one to perform the disembowelment, her tail drummed against the ground in enthusiasm. He tilted it to its side to provide her a better vantage point, and without any further prompting, she reached a flexed paw into its depths and began raking out its guts in fist fulls. Once the majority of it had been removed, it was Mercury's turn to do the detail work. Though even through his concentration, he still made an effort for conversation. "Yes it is!" Lyssie answered. "But the first one is dying, so I wanted to make another." She explained. There were only so many pumpkins left, so she wanted to make sure she got the opportunity to carve a second one.

The Carpathius girl was very impressed with how meticulously her friend kept to his craft. He cut out her design perfectly! With each slice, her vision came closer and closer to becoming reality. Yet, when he prompted her with another question, she was easily distracted. "I hadn't ever thought about it before." Talyssa answered honestly. "I do like plants. I really like flowers ..." She trailed off as she lingered in the train of thought. "I just kinda like to know things. I want to learn as much as I can, in as many topics as I can." The tawny and white fae explained.

But as the topic faded from her mind, she delighted in the officially carved pumpkin as Mercury finished his assignment. "Mercury! It looks so good! Great job!" She squealed, taking a scrambled step back to get an even better look at the finished product. She loved it. And she absolutely, could not wait to show Briar.

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