A small redheaded child wearily eyes the little pumpkins atop the table, an older girl standing before him with a mischievous twinkle in her deep blue eyes.
"Gaara, it's not that bad!" She exclaims with a grin. "It's just a little pumpkin splooge!"
"…" The jade eyes slowly peer into the pumpkin set before him, the top already carved off. His nose wrinkles slightly as he examines the contents. "… I don't want to touch it, Awi."
"Speak not such nonsensical buffoonery!" Arianna can't help laughing at his expression. "That's just silly, Gaara. I know it looks gross, but it's a lot of fun to squish!"
"… I don't like wet things."
"Have you ever squished pumpkin guts?"
"… No."
"Then how do you know you don't like it?" He shrugs a little and looks away, causing her to smile. "I can't make our treat if you don't help me get out the pumpkin insides, okay?"
"… Do I have to do it, Awi?"
"Yes."
Gaara slowly sets his teddy down on a stack of books in a chair, just so he can watch the proceedings. The dinky redhead shifts closer to the pumpkin on the chair he stands upon, pushing up his sleeves like his babysitter's. He raises his hand and looks up at her with a grimace, hand slowly lowering toward the hole in the pumpkin's top. Arianna barely manages to keep from laughing with glee as he delicately pats the goop within.
"… It's slimy."
"Well go on; scoop some out into the bowl." She pushes a clear plastic bowl beside his pumpkin. Gaara slowly squishes his fingers in the splooge, wrinkling his nose as he pulls it out and drops it into the bowl. His eyes widen after a moment as he picks up an off-white thing from within.
"What's this?"
"Ah, you've found our treat!" Arianna smiles as she winks at him. "That's a pumpkin seed! When we're done clearing out the pumpkins, we're going to pick them all out, clean them, and then toast them in the oven."
"… Do they taste good?" The soft voice sounds rather intrigued.
"Toasted pumpkin seeds are really good," Arianna lightly taps his nose, "if they're made right. But you have to help me squish out the pumpkins first!"
Gaara hesitates as he looks into the pumpkin; the gooey pumpkin guts are cold and slimy, but the promise of tasty treats is tempting... It's enticing enough that he finally shuts his eyes, scrunches his nose, and shoves his hands into the mess within, soon becoming a happy, slimy child coloring on his pumpkin while the seeds toast in the oven under Arianna's supervision.