2012-10-20 The Great Pumpkin(s)

It's a busy Saturday afternoon at the New York Botanical Garden, especially with Halloween fast approaching and bringing families out to see the Haunted Pumpkin Garden. Xi'an Coy Manh is no exception, and she's attempting to wrangle a pair of young teenage twins in the process.
"Xi'an, look!" the boy shouts, bounding ahead to point out a jack o'latnern carved into a howling wolf.
"That's nicely carved, Leong," Shan muses, wandering over with the girl in tow. "What do you think, Nga?"
"I still liked the rose better," Nga replies stubbornly. Leong gives her an exasperated look. "Roses aren't /scary/."
Halloween! Rain and her family, as a gaggle of witches, freaking love Halloween. In her duster coat, without her hat, she's meandering along. Roses and pumpkins and plants of all kinds. She seems happy here. And maybe she was stopping by to see what seeds were for sale, when they do offer them. For now, she looks quietly awkward as ever. She smiles politely at people in passing, violet eyes a bit wide at everything. She could freaking live in these gardens, if they let her. But sadly, witches cannot. Or anyone really. Not even if they don't turn people into newts. She happens to be near the wolf pumpkin, or at least - drawing close to it, when the jack 'o lantern carved into a howling wolf is pointed at. She peers at it, and does her best to move aside politely. "Oh! Sorry."
"It's okay," Shan calls towards Rain, flashing a smile. "It's a crowded exhibit --"
"I think there's a Frankenstein over here," Leong says excitedly, snagging Nga by the arm. "Xi'an, we're going to go look at Frankenstein, okay?"
"Okay. Just don't wander too far," Shan tells him, and already she's quietly establishing a minor telepathic link so she can keep an eye on them. Off the twins go, and she smiles in exasperation. She glances back towards Rain, gesturing after them. "See? No harm done at all. They'll forget all about Frankenstein by the time they get there, too."
Rain smiles back politely. She nods. "There's lots to see..." She agrees quietly. She watches the twins go and glances back to Shan. There's a pause. "Well. I guess it's easy to do that with so much around..." The mental stimulation is postively infinite here, especially for folks into plants! And pumpkins and fall and - the scents and so much information all at once. She glances around, looking sympathetic. "I think I could visit here every week and still not see it all," She considers. Then her face goes red. "Oh gosh! I'm sorry." She's distracting the poor woman when there's twins to be watched. "I -" Now that she's aware of herself, and her social position, she looks like she just turned into a lobster and stares. Turning a bit red. "Um." Awkward. "I'm - totally distracting you here..."
Shan can't help but laugh and waves off the apology, actually stepping over to stand with Rain. "It's really okay, I promise. I've got an eye on them," she promises, and just to be safe, turns to watch the pair as they bob in and out of the crowd. See? Totally watching them, physically, and not with scary invisible brain powers. Totally normal. Mmhm. "I haven't been out here in ages, so it's nice to come see it all again. I'm going to be buried in work soon, so I need to take advantage while I can."
Eh heh. Rain tilts her head. She cannot sense psychic powers, at least. "Sounds good," She smiles a little. As long as she's not causing a potential kidnapping or loss of twins, it's alright, she suspects. "If you're sure..." Nod. She smiles faintly. "It's nice in the fall. The smells and everything. Even if it's a bit crowded in spots," But that's New York for you, and Rain's accepting. "Oh? I see! I shouldn't just keep you standing here then." She blinks at the last remark. "I'm - a bit lucky my work is mostly freelance," She considers. If one might call her spattering of homes and jobs 'freelance', demihomeless and quasiemployed. She pauses. "Were you going to - I mean - Oh ..." She's talking and not introducing herself. "Um. Sorry... My name's Rain..." She seems friendly, if more than a little awkward.
The name earns a smile and Shan pulls a hand out of her hoodie's pocket to offer it for a shake. "Xi'an." No reason not to see if people can handle the correct pronunciation before falling back on 'Shan,' after all. "Nice to meet you. Freelance seems like it would be much more fun than a nine to five, but I'm sure it's /much/ more stressful," she muses thoughtfully, starting to slowly wander after the twins. The invitation for Rain to follow along isn't explicit, but definitely there. "What do you do?"
Rain smiles politely and carefully accepts Shan's hand. Weirdly, one of the perks of a wiccan family is a gift for pronounciation. Or at least, she travels and meets all sorts these days. "Xi-an," Zhi-an? Shi-an? She'll at least be close. "In some days. It's not always steady..." She admits. Then again, gardening for Loki... she can't really ADMIT to that. She tilts her head and will hesitate, then follow along. "Umm. I look after some of the old folks, do deliveries and - check in on people. That's about it mostly. I garden for someone and watch their apartment. Other days..." A shrug and a smile. "It's peaceful. Even if I got a degree in engineering..." That's wry.
Shan gives Rain a /very/ sympathetic look. "I know how that feels. I have a degree in library science, but I'm a personal assistant right now," she says, her right eye scrunching up a bit in... not exactly a grimace, but close. "But it should give way to a head librarian position soon. It's just... weird. But life is always a little weird."
Up ahead, Nga has turned the tables on Leong and is in the process of hauling him towards a series of pumpkins carved to look like a family of cats. "At least they're black cats," is about as nice as the boy can bring himself to be about them. CATS: NOT SCARY.
Rain smiles a little. "I see. It's an interesting path. But I think I'm glad if it's a good path," She considers. "Still, a head librarian... That's pretty cool. I went to a library here, I think. One of the bigger ones," Rain taps her chin. She looks to the pumpkins before glancing back over. "It's alright. I didn't quite make it in the family business, so ... this is definitely different," She admits. "I think I'm growing... to like the freedom." Really. That seems to be the biggest perk. She seems amused as the tables have turned. And aww, a family of cat pumpkins. Cats: Not scary, making everything cute. They already took over the internet and at least one AI. It's good times. She is quiet for a moment, to balance out her speech. "Congraulations. I bet it will be awesome." Nod.
"I hope so. It's going to be for a new school, out in Metropolis," Shan smiles, her eyes drifting towards the twins. "As much as I hate the thought of uprooting those two... I think it'll be good for all three of us. A change in scenery may be just what we need," she muses, glancing up at Rain. After a brief pause, she decides to take a bit of a leap based on nothing more than the color of her eyes. "It'll be nice to work somewhere I don't need to hide what I can do anymore."
Yes, it's a risk. Especially in this political climate. But Shan has a good feeling about this, and besides, her powers make for /very effective escapes/ in a pinch.
Rain smiles. "Really? Awesome. And it might. Things get kinda tense here sometimes," She considers. She looks between the trio. Then there's a pause. Waitaminute. Blink. Hesitate. "..." She looks thoughtful. There's a brief memory of the little kitten baby and she smiles faintly. "That's definitely a plus." Yeah. There we go. "It's been pretty scary for a lot of schools. I got hit over the head in Gotham, because I put some guy on fire out and - it was really ugly." Well. She's sympathetic if nothing else. But she's also pretty good at bolting when the cameras roll. "Hopefully that one will be safer. Or at least they won't go after it." Sigh. "That's a bit much of me to say, but the whole thing seems-" She shrugs and shakes her head. "Um. Well. I guess I can see why people might be scared but on the other hand, being scared doesn't mean setting people on fire's okay..." Setting pigeons on fire is a yes. "I hope it works out for you guys." Nod.
This notion of being attacked for /saving a man who was on fire/ seems to give Shan some serious pause. Wut. ... Wut. ... Reboot necessary, please wait. She holds up a finger and then plucks out her wallet, going rummaging through the card sleeves. "I don't have my own cards yet, and the school isn't quite that far along either... but." She plucks a card out, checks the back to make sure it's blank, and then offers it to Rain. Emma Frost. "The headmistress," she explains, tucking her wallet away again. "If you would like to see if there's anything you could do around the school, something a little more reliable than freelance? I'm sure she'd be happy to discuss it."
"..." Well, to be fair, poor Ragman is weak to fire. He's not a plant pokemon, but everyone has their weaknesses. She looks apologetic. She tilts her head. "That's okay," She carefully accepts the blank card. "Um, sure. I might turn it over. There's lots of things to do," She admits with a faint smile. "I appreciate it. I hope it goes well for everyone." Yeah. Rain is shy, and Rain is awkward, but she genuinely seems to mean well. Even if she's a little spaced out from the sensory overload. "Thank you." Yes. "And I apologize. There's so much stuff here..."
"Don't even worry about it," Shan smiles, tucking her hands back into her pockets. "Just let her know I gave you the card when you drop her a line. I'll make sure she knows to expect a call or an email or something." A surprised Emma is not necessarily a happy Emma, so LET'S AVOID THAT, shall we?
Shan starts to say more before Leong all but appears at her side, snagging her by the wrist. Then Nga does the same on her other side. "Hungry," they declare in tandem. Finally. Something they can agree on.
"Looks like it's time for dinner," Shan muses, smiling apologetically at Rain as the two start to bodily drag her off. "It was very nice meeting you, Rain! Maybe we can work toge--okay okay okay I'm /coming/, I'm coming..!"
Rain nods. "Sure thing. Thank you." And Rain tries to avoid surprising people who could fry her brains in a heartbeat. Or period. Contrary to outside appearances, she does use them sometimes. Either way, she smiles as the twins return. "Be well, The pleasure is mine. Have fun!" She waves to the trio. She loves the fall. There's so much to take in and people come out in the cool, breezy afternoons. Somehow, despite spilling the beans on how she feels about folks with mutations, she feels - ... oddly okay with that. She watches them go quietly, before stalkstalking about the pumpkins.
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