A/N: Sorry about the delay in updates, but this was a little tedious to write. This will be finished by the time Halloween comes around. Hope you enjoy.
Ch. 3 "It's the Great Pumpkin, I think"
"You know the rules, don't get anything too heavy!"
"Define too heavy."
Don Wei gave off an exasperated sigh as he pull into the parking lot of the grocery store. Rick had joined them, looking slightly bored. Aikka was also there, wearing a black hoodie and jeans, trying to hide his prominate ears under the hood. Eva upon the other hand was feeling sulky.
"A grocery store? Whatever happened to the pumpkin patch?" she asked.
"You've never even seen one!" he snapped. "Besides, if we ever went to one, where would we hide your… friend?"
Aikka tensed up and looked up at Don Wei. "Do I not have a suitable disguise?"
"Its fine," reassured Rick, "besides you can just call it your Halloween costume."
"I want to be something different," Aikka replied.
"Enough!" Don Wei put the car in park. "Eva go with Aikka and find yourselves some suitable pumpkins. Rick is going to find some candy. I can't believe I have to shop for candy."
"You never brought candy for Halloween before, unless I'm missing something," said Rick.
Without another word, they exited the car and entered the store. It was pretty new to Aikka, the sights and smells of the grocery store was limited to the colors of autumn. It looked like the store had decorated itself. Eva lead Aikka away from a stand showing off magazines to the produce center, where a bin filled with, what appeared to be at least in Aikka's eyes, round orange squash. He bent over the bin and peered inside. Each of those round orange – things must've weighted about as much as eight month old Kabuto pup.
"These are pumpkins" Eva said, tapping one with her hand. "We're going to pick a few for carving."
"Carving?" Aikka was confused. "Why do you carve these… pumpkins for?"
Eva stopped and looked at Aikka quizzically. She searched her head for an answer, and one came up, albeit very oddly made out.
"Well, a long time ago," she began, "there was this guy who was forced out of heaven and hell and made to walk the Earth forever with a coal in a pumpkin to light his way."
Aikka starred at her as though she had suddenly sprouted daisies out of her head.
"I… Don't … Get it."
"It's fun to do."
"I'm pretty sure of that."
She looked at some of the pumpkins on the ground beside the bin and looked them over. Aikka picked up one pumpkin and presented it to her.
"Oh, well thanks but the thing about pumpkins is that you have to pick one that isn't scratched up or ruined. Let me show you."
Eva picked up a greenish pumpkin from the ground.
"This pumpkin is green and because of that it means it's not fully grown."
"So it's unsuitable?"
"Well, yes and no. You can use it to carve a witch pumpkin, but enough of that." She set the pumpkin down and took the one that Aikka picked. "You have to make sure it doesn't have any cut or bruises, because it means that this pumpkin might be rotten or there's bugs inside. Also, you have to make sure the pumpkin has a good face to carve into."
"But it does not have a face."
"Not yet."
She looked over the pumpkin. "Looks great, now we need at least one more and we'll be done."
**
Aikka watched Eva as she hauled another of those… "Pumpkins" into a metal wheeled cart. He still didn't understand the purpose of the pumpkins, even though they were at best some of the most unusual things he had ever seen. Like a gourd, and he had seen gourds used as lanterns on his own planet before.
She carted it over to a small stand next to the pumpkins. It was bright neon green and black with shelves carrying an assortment of packages with clear fronts. Eva picked up two small packages and a strange orange scoop.
"This is for pumpkin carving," she explained. "Once I tried using a steak knife, but I got myself in trouble with that. These pumpkin knives are the best."
"They're blunt," Aikka turned the package over the studied the object in hand. "Not very good for fighting."
She gave him a strange look and then started laughing.
**
"Let me get this straight, Don, you like candy corn but not mellow cream pumpkins?"
"They're too sweet for me."
Rick gave Don a face as he took it upon himself to pick up a package of some chocolate crisp sticks. They were individually wrapped, which meant, as Rick had learned from his long ago days of "safety first" pamphlets that was the only candy deemed safe to consume, if it hadn't been tampered with first. Apples, which had once been his favorite treat during this time was now considered something of harm. Shame, he thought, kids could use a little nutrients from all the sugar they got this time of the year.
Don walked ahead, searching for a new bag of candy, maybe something he usually put in the bowl for work.
"You know Don; sometimes you can be harsh, especially concerning your own daughter."
The old man took a sharp intake. "She's not the same, in retrospect."
"She's a teenager."
"Bringing home an alien prince is not normal behavior."
"Oh really? Have you ever thought about him not being just an 'alien prince'?"
Don stood there, furrowing his eyebrows. He might not have liked the idea, certainly not entertained it, even when he had seen her with that gunner back on Oban. To think the prince was someone closer still made him flinch; it couldn't be that he assured himself.
"You can't be serious; besides, he's going back in a week or so."
"Whatever you say, Don. Whatever you say."
A/N: Seems like Rick gets it, but Don doesn't or does he? Well, this isn't all about Molly and Aikka, this is about Halloween. Next time: Helping out with a report and Aikka gets some tips on his "costume"...
