Chapter Text
Thanksgiving was a day away.
It wasn't anything special in Levi’s house. Just a normal size meal with the same foods most everyone else ate on that day but with a whole lot less leftovers. There were no different generations of the family with different views in an overly crowded home and there was no saying grace unless "dig in kid" counted.
Levi closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp afternoon air as he walked down the sidewalk, the air visibly puffed out as he exhaled. He re-opened his eyes and looked up to the darken sky that warned of icy rain or snow.
His favorite time of year had already passed with the warm air and the smell of dead leaves that would be in the air every time the wind would blow. When everything was pumpkin flavored and Halloween was the topic of interest for everyone at school.
Now the Christmas music played on the radio and the holiday lights were already out on some houses in the neighborhood. Levi didn’t hate it though, in actuality it made him excited, he loved the holiday cheer. The only bad thing about this time of year was the weather; snow was beautiful if you weren’t outside with it.
The tree leaves all around him were no longer holding their brilliant fiery warm colors. They lay brown and crumpled on the ground while the trunks and branches kept their dark brown appearance. The sky was a dull grey that warned of snow in the near future. The dead leaves crunching every step he took.
Levi wore his light brown leather jacket with white soft fluffy lining on the inside and a black knitted hat with matching gloves. With his plain black backpack on his back and his sweet pumpkin that would be used to make a, hopefully delicious, pumpkin pie cradled in his arms, he continued to walk forwards daydreaming about the wonderful warmth that awaited him inside his house.
The smell of a cooked pumpkin pie accompanied with him playing his 3DS snuggled under his bed covers sounded like heaven to him. Maybe he would even take a nap when he got home. Sleeping helps the body grow after all.
"Levi!!"
His smile faded into a scowl. His daydreaming vanished, bring him back to the reality that he was outside in the cold as the icy wind blew against his face.
"Levi! Wait up!" the voice called again, less excited than the first.
Levi heard the crunch of leaves in a quick pace behind him until they nearly synchronized with his own steps. He looked up over his shoulder to see his father’s friend, Hange Zoë, quickly walk up to his side. A soft jingle of a bell alerted him as he gazed past Hange to the other side. A well-known chocolate colored brown cat on a leash trotted its way into the lead as if to tell Hange to hurry up.
Hange was the last person he wanted to see right now. It was too cold to talk and it was too cold to listen. That was his excuse at least.
Levi liked Hange but it’s somewhat… uncomfortable for Levi to be seen with them. Hange was loud and more than a little crazy to be around for numerous reasons. A minor one being, Hange walked cats, like in today’s case. Dogs made sense but cats? Levi felt like he would never know why and sincerely did not feel like asking Hange out fear of an hour-long lecture.
"Levi, dear, how was school today? I heard from your uncle you went to a pumpkin farm!" Hange smiled down at him too excitedly and Levi knew exactly why. Hange certainly was cutting to the chase today.
"Hi Bean. Hi Miss Hange," he greeted. The cat was more welcome to Levi than its owner was. Mostly because Levi liked cats more than he did adults. Cats couldn’t talk about nonsense.
"I mean, I got a piece of candy today." He replied nonchalantly kicking a few leaves in front of him. Levi not only liked the smell of dead leaves but the sound of them crunching under his shoes was enjoyable too.
“What? Really? What kind?” Hange always made even the smallest talk seem important. It felt nice that, no matter what topic Levi talked about, Hange was listening.
"It’s a Jolly Rancher from the bus driver.” Levi shifted his pumpkin to his right arm as he pulled the candy out of his coat pocket to show it off.
“Is that grape? I didn’t think you liked that flavor.” Hange more or less mumbled. Well it wasn’t his favorite but he didn’t hate it either.
“She said she’s thankful she can drive us to and from school safely and told us to have a nice Thanksgiving." Levi clasped his fingers over it. Putting the candy back in his pocket and shifting to hold the sweet pumpkin with both hands against his chest again. Grateful it wasn’t too big and heavy like the pumpkin his friend Farlan got. Then again, sweet pumpkins were never big.
"Wonderful! That is great and all… but tell me, oh please, please tell me about Mike’s pumpkin patch! Did you see any?" Hange ask excitedly. They even bounced slightly and clutched the cat leash to their chest.
"Yeah I saw lots of pumpkins, really big ones I could use as a bed and the tiny small ones that fit in one of my hands. I even got to bring home one" he held up his pumpkin “It’s a sweet one, grown just for making pumpkin pies.”
“I didn’t know it was a sweet one but don’t be so cheeky.” Hange teased while faking a pout, causing Levi to smirk, knowing that being cheeky is one of the many things he was good at.
“You know what I meant," Hange crouched down and grabbed Levi’s shoulders bringing him to a stop and turning him so they were face to face. All Levi could do is close his eyes, sighing as he turned to look at Hange.
”Did you see a Cucurbita Sapidusgenus? A Parvos Cucurbita Sapidusgenus perhaps? You know the little baby ones.”
Levi rolled his eyes to look over Hange’s shoulder to nothing-specific "No."
Hange eyed him suspiciously. “You had to have seen something, anything!" They whined, tossing their head back. Bean let out a loud meow and came over to rub his head on Hange’s knee as if he was comforting them. Either that or telling them to suck it up and to keep moving because of the cold.
Levi turned out of the hands grasping his shoulders and kept walking. Not looking anywhere but straight ahead to his house at the end of the street.
“All I saw were pumpkins and people.”
"According to some books I’ve read this is the perfect weather for them!" Hange continue to whine standing back up and walking along side him again Bean in tow. “They should be out feeding on the remaining pumpkins and gathering them for winter!”
"They don’t exist so how could I see one?" Levi grumbled.
He hated this topic. It was without a doubt the biggest reason he hated autumn. He would rather stand outside in the wet cold for hours at a stinky farm. As long as he never had to hear about fake creatures two certain adults in his life constantly preached about.
“I recently discovered in an old book that the Cucurbita Sapidusgenus smell sweet like pumpkin pie! I wonder how strong the smell is you know since they live outside and are, in all likelihood, covered in dirt and other earthy scents. Maybe they clean themselves often so they’re not as dirty. Could be the dirt serves as protection so other creatures can’t smell them? It makes sense that they-”
Levi closed his eyes, lulled his head back, and let out a loud and possibly over dramatic groan.
"Miss Hange. Please. Stop." He pleaded; if his hands were free, they would be over his ears. "They aren’t real and I don‘t care." Levi stopped walking and looked up to glare at the adult.
"Hange is just fine you know that.” Came a huff. “I mean you have pretty much known me your whole life. I could almost be one of your parents! Ha! Maybe more like a distant relative." Levi cringed at the thought regardless of the fact Hange pretty much was like another family member with how frequent the visits were.
“I don’t care about fake creatures.” Levi grumbled.
"There’s so much information that they could very well be real! Your uncle and I are always willing to show you!" Hange said looking down at him with a big hopeful smile.
“I rather have a huge stomach ache and to be stuck in bed than to listen to you and Kenny talk about ghosts." He said bitterly, clutching his pumpkin tighter to his chest.
Hange let out a light chuckle. "Well if you never look at the evidence of course you’re not gonna believe.” Then gave a shake of their head. ”You need to see it to believe it!“ Hange gave a semi shout, lifting one arm in some kind of heroic cheer while Bean just meowed. “See even Bean agrees!” They ended with a light chuckle causing Levi to rolled his eyes.
He was more sure Bean was telling Hange to shut up, due to being loud and embarrassing, despite no one being around. Levi would call it a quiet neighborhood but with his uncle and Hange always around, nothing was ever quiet.
He looked up as he saw some of the first few snowflakes begin to fall, causing him to frown.
"Your house is that way. Go home before Bean freezes to death." He shifted his pumpkin to his left arm and pointed to the right where the road curved.
Hange let out a soft sigh and fixed Levi with a small smile. Tugging on the leash, they started to walk across the street to the sidewalk on the other side. Hange turned around to wave to Levi with a big smile.
“Tell your uncle I’ll call sometime later today!"
“Don’t stand in the middle of the road.” Levi shouted back giving a half-hearted wave. He let out a huff and quickened his pace towards his warm home. An icy breeze brushed a few tips of his black hair against his cheek, tickling, giving him a chill. He pulled his scarf up over his nose and quickened his pace.
Being a ten year old was hard. At least Kenny was not that embarrassing to be around… most the time. Dads were dads, even if they weren’t really your dad.
Levi’s uncle, Kenny, hunted the Cucurbita Sapidusgenus. Although commonly called and easier to pronounce Pumyumkins. Hange was all about knowing everything about the Pumyumkins, down to every detail. Unlike his uncle, who would rather hunt them just for the possible fame that followed. At least that is what he always told Levi. Kenny and Hange would often meet up and share rumors and other crap Levi didn’t care to hear about.
Pumyumkins were urban legends built around rumors and assumptions. People would find or take evidence, whether it was pictures or an old book with older text on what they believed to be Pumyumkins. Much like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Kenny and Hange were pretty much ghost hunters, in Levi’s opinion.
He always just assumed someone dressed up their shaved cat one day. The poor thing was so embarrassed it ran away, looking for something or someone that would take the offensive clothes off. Then it was lost for so long it came across a pumpkin and decided to eat it. Because even Levi himself would rather eat something nasty than die from starvation. Nothing about tiny humans in clothes and nothing about old books with ancient texts.
Levi thought it was more than likely one of Hange’s old cats. Dressing cats up in clothes sounded like something Hange would do.
He started up the pathway to his house still a bit grumpy from the conversation with Hange with the added bonus of large clumps of snowflakes beginning to fall; he hastily began walking up the path to the porch of his home, eager to get inside.
Kenny wasn't home, with the hint of the empty driveway, which was more than a little strange. The bad news now was he would have to find the key and unlock to door oppose to just running inside. The soft whimpering accompanied with a few sniffles sounded more like a small child crying than any bird Levi has ever heard. Which was more beyond strange than walking cats in the freezing weather or Kenny not being home before him.
He froze as he reached the top step. After a few seconds Levi inhaled as he slowly looked above him only see the wooden ceiling of the porch. It wasn’t a bird from what he could see and he didn’t have any neighbors either so it shouldn’t sound that close.
He looked to the right of the porch where a wooden rocking chair was and about four pumpkins sat. One big one sitting in the chair and three medium size ones on the porch floor, one of the pumpkins was open and deseeded.
The porch was covered with pumpkins and gourds of all sizes on both ends, laid out by Kenny in hopes of catching a Pumyumkin. “Like leaving a bowl of candy out on the table for a kid to grab,” is how Kenny described it. Made sense to Levi. If someone left out a bowel of his favorite candy, he would take all the candy and the bowl too. Their house was right at the forest's edge, which was also a bonus, seeing as they assumed Pumyumkins lived deep in huge forests.
Levi turned to the right until he could see the entire front yard. Nothing but a few leaves on the grass and the ever-growing snowfall beginning to pile everywhere.
Turning back to the front door of his house, Levi leaned over to get the key from under a pumpkin right next to the door. Picking up the key he looked to the to the rest of the porch and saw a tuft of brown fur leisurely bobbing up and down on the side of one the smaller pumpkins.
Ever so quietly, Levi crouched down and took a steady step forward. From the other side of the pumpkin the whimpers ended up sounding more like murmurs the closer he got.
“Bean?” Levi questioned aloud. He knew it wasn’t Bean, not sure why he even asked.
The hushed sobs became silent and the movement of the brown fur came to a stop. The tuffs ducked behind the pumpkin and were replaced with two small human like hands grasping the edge of the open pumpkin. Two large watery pure yellow eyes peered over at him from the top of the pumpkin.