Library, Wednesday

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Peridot wasn't wearing shoes today. Peridot didn't even own shoes. Or footwear in general, really. And so, if there was anything odd about today, she really hadn't noticed at all. Which was fine by her. If the island wanted to take a break from dropping sticky things from the sky or causing infestations of little cuddly creatures, she would be perfectly content to go about the library, business as usual, putting books away and dusting.

And occasionally pausing to look around to see if anything out of the ordinary was going on today, at all.

Nope. Still nothing.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

Well, there was a Summer, eventually.

"Hey, Peridot," she said around one of the suckers she found in one of her shoes this morning, "how's it going?"

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"Boring," Peridot replied after pausing to peer underneath a stack of periodicals to see if the weirdness was hiding there. "I should have brought Pumpkin with me."

She glanced up at Summer, giving her a little nod.

"How are you?"

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And disappointment immediately fell on her face, dragged her shoulders down a little. "You didn't bring her with you today"

She guessed it made sense. A library didn't seem a great place for a pet in general, much less a pumpkin one.

"I was kind of hoping to meet her."

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"You... wanted to meet her?"

Of course she wanted to meet her, 'Dot. Pumpkin was awesome.

"I'm supposed to have a break coming up," she said, after a pause. "I don't usually take them, but I could go get her, if you like."

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"Couldyouplease?" said Summer, way more eagerly than she had meant to, but it just came right out. "I mean, when I read on radio that you had a pumpkin for a pet, all I could think was ohmygod, I have got to see this for myself. I could even watch the books for you!"

Which, normally, would seem like a ridiculous statement, but they both knew better. She gave a wary look toward the shelves, narrowing her eyes after a moment. Peridot said she was bored, sure, but who knew how long they'd remain so...cooperative?

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Peridot narrowed her own eyes for a moment as she considered the stacks, and then she nodded her agreement.

"It's a deal," she replied. "I won't be long."

And then she was making her way toward the door. She had a Pumpkin to fetch!

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"Okay!" Summer called out after Peridot, in a very un-library-like fashion. "Sounds good!"

And then she bounced a little, because she couldn't wait to see what this pet pumpkin Pumpkin thing was all about. If it turned out to be just a literal pumpkin with a face drawn on it, though, she was going to just die.

And then she waited. She whistled a little, looking around, wondering what she'd say if someone came in looking for help. She saw a book nearby, tilted her head curiously, started to reach for it...and then hastily pulled her hand back.

"Nope," she said. "Better not even tempt it."

So it was more whistling. And waiting. And being suspicious of even the faintest rustle of a page.

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The first sound that could be heard from the library on Peridot's way back was, of course, the barking. A high yapping sound, like a small dog would make. It was followed, of course, by Peridot's own voice, making baby-talk at the pumpkin in an attempt to calm her down. Not that an excited Pumpkin was prone to piddle or anything, but libraries were supposed to be quiet.

"Go on," Peridot's voice could be heard. "Go say hi to Summer."

Barking pumpkin on four stub legs incoming at an excited produce-dog run, Summer!

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There was barking, so definitely not just a regular old pumpkin with a face scribbled onto it. Summer slowly turned, not even knowing what to expect now with that sound, but once she saw it, how in the world could she have expected anything else?

"Ohmygod."

There was a small barking pumpkin on four stub legs rushing toward her, and she was down on one knee with her hands held out. Were you supposed to let pumpkins sniff you out the way you had to let puppies do it? Summer had a feeling there wasn't going to be a lot of sniffing when Pumpkin reached her, and she was completely, totally, one hundred percent okay with that.

"Hiiiiiii, Pumpkin, ohmygod, you are just so cute, yes you are, look at you! You're...just...so....pumpkiny!"

And that little vine tail! Ohmygod, Summer just could not handle it right now!!

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Oh, Pumpkin liked you, Summer. She barked happily, and bounced and wiggled around, her vine tail waggling around behind her. There wasn't really any sniffing of the offered hands, Pumpkin opting to just go in for affectionate licking straightaway with a tongue that was... well... made primarily of pumpkin innards.

Peridot was looking quite proud indeed as she caught up.

"Isn't she the greatest?"

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Okay, the tongue thing was a little bit weird and gross, but Summer tried to imagine tat, with a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, her hands would probably end up smelling like pumpkin spice, which, despite her vocal derailments against it, was a really lovely smell.

And greatest didn't even begin to cover it.

"Ohmygod, Peridot, where did you get her?"

She freed one of her hands from the licking of Pumpkin's tongue so that she could at least pet the little gourd on the head. If she didn't have an aversion to having pets again after the Snuffles/Snowball ordeal, she'd almost want to get one herself, wondering if there were other vegetable pets. A butternut squash cat, a potato hamster, an artichoke hedgehog!

Okay, she totally needed an artichoke hedgehog now.

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It was probably even doable. First, they needed to get Steven to spit on an artichoke...

"I went back to my own Earth over the giving-thanks holiday," Peridot said, super pleased that Summer was so impressed with her pet. "Lapis Lazuli and I gave farming a try, and discovered that corn is useless, and to make us feel better Steven licked a pumpkin seed!"

And then gored a regular pumpkin in front of her with a trowel so that she'd love Peridot and Lapis instead! How thoughtful!

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"Corn's not useless!" For a brief second, Summer was almost offended. But it was hard to stay offended with a pumpkin puppy licking your hands, even if the tongue thing was a little weird and gross, but Summer was imagining a little cinnamon, a little nutmeg, and boom, pumpkin spice hands. "How else would you get popcorn?"

She moved one hand to pet Pumpkin on the top of her head, before testing the waters to see if she'd like to be picked up and cuddled a little. She never imagined she'd be trying to cuddle with a pumpkin, and yet, here they were.

"And did you say he licked it? Does this Steven guy have the ability to make things anthropomorphic with his tongue?"

She sounded surprised, but seriously, it wasn't even that weird, she supposed, but, man, that had to make for an awkward dating life for that guy.

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"I don't eat popcorn, either," Peridot pointed out. Because ew. "But yeah, he licked it. I think it's... healing spit, he calls it."

She glanced at Pumpkin, who was quite happy to snuggle right on in. Pumpkin was a total sucker for cuddles, apparently.

"I'm not certain how making plants into intelligent, mobile beings is 'healing,' but I'm not complaining, either."