”Where is it?” Sam asked Bruno who just stared at the icemancer in confusion. The large dog followed Sam back to his room when Sam decided he needed to shower before the day date he had planned with Juliette from the night before. They were going to a pumpkin orchard or an apple orchard. Sam never knew what to all them all that he’d be picking something there.

”Find my pants boy.” Sam said to the dog who turned and in a loud bark started to look for what Sam thought was his pants. Sam walked back into the bathroom and slammed his shower beer then looked around again knowing it still wasn’t in his bathroom. If it wasn’t there a few minutes ago then they wouldn’t be there now. Sam sighed and then walked back out into his room and looked for Cammie his cat to see if she was going to supervise the search but then recalled where she was, she was still in bed. In Juliette’s room.

It then dawned on Sam he knew where his pair of pants were. Sure he had other pairs but they weren’t jeans. They were for tux’s or his suits. All his jeans as of late had met their fate in a fight or a fire. He needed to go shoping but hand’t really had that much time. That and all the time he did have was spent on doing something not boring. Like dates with Juliette.

Sam sighed and slipped on some boxers and rewrapped the towel as Bruno walked up with a tennis ball and set it at Sam’s feet. He let out a low growl as if to say he had found what they were looking for. Sam smirked, ”Nice try buddy, don’t think I can wear that.” Sam kicked the tennis ball and Bruno ran after it with purpose.

Sighing once again Sam set his beer down on his dresser and made the dangerous trek back to the room he had just left not to long ago. No doubt she would have locked it. Holding the towel around his waist the bare chested Sam knocked on Juliette’s door, ”Jules…” he tried to not be loud and draw attention. ”I might have left something in there…” he hoped his pants were there.

The unpacking process had been much slower than Juliette had intended. She only had a few boxes left to go, but they were a thought that hung over her head whenever she glanced toward the corner in which they sat. Back when she had first moved in, she had assumed that she would get it done quickly and be moved in in no time. However, her time had suddenly been consumed by working in the infirmary and spending time with a certain icemancer.

She had about ten minutes before when she had agreed to meet Sam, so she figured she might as well get through a little bit of the pile. She passed her bed and scratched Cammie behind the ears quickly as she passed.

Cammie and Bruno had seemed to take a bit of a liking to Juliette's room. Ever since Sam had started spending more time there (sleeping wasn't really a term that could be used for his restless night state), so had his pets. Juliette really didn't mind, though; she quite enjoyed having them there.

She had just picked through some books to put on the shelf when she was interrupted by a knock on her door. 

”Jules… I might have left something in there…”

Sam's voice was quiet, which told her that he likely wasn't drunk. So, she risked opening the door, something that she didn't do if she got an inkling that he had been drinking. 

What was behind the door was what surprised her immensely. Sam was standing with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, still dripping with water. 

"Uh," Juliette said before bursting into laughter. She took a minute to compose herself before journeying into the back of her room where a pile of Sam's things resided. "You mean these?" She held up a pair of balled-up jeans. 

”I mean them.” Sam nodded his head and walked into the room and shut the door behind him. Sam smirked then iced over the excess water so his torso and arms took on a certain sheen before the ice dissipated. He was dryer and took a few steps towards her and dropped his towel. It wouldn’t be the first time she had seen him on with nothing but boxers. She had seen less.

”I’m glad you found this so funny.” Sam said as he rolled his eye and then smirked towards her. ”I think I need more pants.” he finally decided out loud, making his lack of pants an actual problem now. Sam looked to the dog sculpture he had made for her the first day he found out she had been living across the hall from him and he gave it a slight wave causing the figure to reform and give off a mist. He then looked to Juliette and then raised an eyebrow.

”It seems you have two things of mine.” Sam sat on her bed and then reached out for his cat and gave her a few scratches behind the ears. ”You know we don’t have to go to the orchard… we can just stay here and be lazy…” he looked over at the boxes and then added, ”Or be lazy and unpack.” he looked back to her, ”Just means I don’t need to wear any pants.” he smirked.

"I'm trying to keep this place somewhat clean, you know. You're not being much help," she smirked and nodded to the towel he had dropped on the floor after shutting the door. At least he had the insight to wear boxers underneath his towel as he walked across the hallway. It was difficult to know who would walk by.

"Yeah, I think you do," Juliette shook her head at him and threw him the pair of jeans. How he managed to get by with just one pair of pants, she would never know.

She circled behind him and picked up the dropped towel off the floor, throwing it to him after the jeans. "Hey, I can't help it if she likes me better," Juliette winked at him and took a seat on the other side of Cammie. She took up scratching her other ear.

"We could be lazy..." Juliette nodded and considered the idea, "but then we wouldn't have any pumpkins..." And who would want to live somewhere in the fall and not have pumpkins?

Pants caught then the towel. Sam sighed and stated to put his pants on ”I’ve never had a pumpkin before.” Sam said thinking about it. He had some once but it was one of those memories that was left after the mind control meaning they weren’t real. Something else he didn’t want to fill Juliette in on. He was trying to seem like a normal guy for her. At least as normal as possible. Having a family that didn’t exist didn’t help his case.

”I think she likes anyone better.” Sam mocked as he looked back to his cat who was clearly enjoying the attention. With the pants now on and the cat getting scratches he leaned forward and draped the towel around his shoulders and stifled a small yawn. ”Coffee before we go?” he asked as he stood up. ”Or we can grab some one the way. I’m not picky.” he said as he blew her a kiss and started for the door.

”Ice slide or car?” trying to recall if Juliette traveled by slide before. ”You still planning on taking off in a half hour?” he asked curiously taking the towel and rubbing the back of his head which was still wet.

"Really?" Juliette raised an eyebrow at him. Getting pumpkins around halloween just seemed like something that almost everyone did. At least it did when she was growing up. The last few years hadn't really allowed her to do much about the season, but she still considered it an important tradition. It seemed odd that other people didn't do the same, especially at a school the size of Xavier's Sister School. "Well then we'll have to get lots to make up for lost time. We might even be able to get some pie making ones!" Not that she would be able to make a good pie, but she had heard that using fresh ones was much better than using canned ones.

"That's not true," she grinned and shook her head as she looked between Sam and his cat. "She would have left ages ago if she didn't like you."

"Travel mugs?" Juliette suggested to his question of coffee. "That way we can take it with us or drink it here."

As much as the ice slide idea sounds like an interesting trip, she figured the other option might be a little more practical. "Car. We'll need to carry the pumpkins back, and they'll smash if they get too cold. And yeah, I'm good to go whenever you are. Do you want me to go down and make the coffee while you get ready?"

”Really.” Sam nodded his head, ”All the kids had one here but I never picked one or did the carving.” Sam said thinking more on it, ”I think I was going to do it last year but then there was a fire or something.” he couldn’t remember that far back but it was either a fire or a robbery.

”Travel mugs work.” Sam said as he added, ”If you don’t mind making it… I only need a shirt and shoes.” Sam said looking at his body and then exposed toes. ”Give me five minutes?” Sam said walking out of the room and getting to his door. Hearing Bruno sniff under the door as he touched the knob he smirked and walked back down to Juliette’s room.

”Forgot something.” he walked into the room and towards the bed scooped up Cammie who let out a low mew before purring. ”Yeah… yeah…” he responded as he walked around to Juliette and gave her a kiss. ”That’s what I forgot.” before leaving the room and heading back to his.

Dropping Cammie on the bed and feeding both her and Bruno Sam threw a shirt on and then grabbed shoes and socks. After he was fully dressed the ice-mancer went down stairs to meet his date in the kitchen. ”Whose ready to pick some pumpkins?” he yelled excitedly. Sam pulled out his car keys and gave them a little jingle.

"Five minutes it is," Juliette nodded curtly at him and looked back at her pile of stuff in the corner. It was going to have to wait, it seemed. She sighed at it and grabbed the oversized sweater she had left out on her bed before.

She turned back around to see Sam with Cammie in his arms, and had a split second to react before she was kissed. She didn't mind, but it came as a bit of a surprise. Juliette laughed quietly and watched him leave for a second time. 

She made her way down the stairs and threw on the sweater as she walked. The kitchen was empty when she got there, but the coffee pot wasn't. She grabbed two travel mugs from the cupboard and poured two black coffees.

Juliette held out one cup of coffee for Sam as he walked down the stairs and took a sip from her own.

"I am!" She proclaimed, although much quieter than her date's question had been. She grinned at him and stepped towards the door. "Ready to go?"

”Hold on..” Sam said as he did the three point check. Wallet, keys and phone. All there and his phone was linked to the X-Communicator so he technically had four. Sam smirked and nodded his head opening the door for Juliette then himself. Once he got to the truck and opened the door for her he hoped and slid over the hood and then ran to his side and jumped in.

”If you can’t tell I’m pretty stoked about this.” he said as he started his new old truck. It started on the first turn and the speakers started to boom Led Zepplin. Sam reached for the controls and then turned it down then threw his truck in drive as he pulled out of the garage.

”So new truck… thoughts?” Sam said as he patted the dashboard of his truck. ”Didn’t want to buy brand new, because you know… too many bells and whistles and this is more for picking up pumpkins…” Sam looked at the empty bed of the truck then looked back to Juliette. ”and you are going to have to tell me how to get there.” he said as he pulled out through the mansion gates and made a turn onto the main road.

Juliette stepped into the truck that Sam led her too with a raised eyebrow. She grinned and shook her head as he slid across the hood and hopped in the driver's seat. "No, I can't tell at all," she teased and buckled up her seatbelt. If she was being honest, she was pretty stoked too.

She tapped her fingers to the beat of the song that played in the background and looked around at the new vehicle. "I like it," she told him honestly. "When did you get it?" She knew about his car and his motorbike, but the truck had to have been a recent addition, since it was the first she was hearing about it. 

"Yeah," she nodded and thought for a minute. She had only been to the pumpkin farm once, and she wasn't sure how to get there from the mansion. She pulled out her phone and brought up the GPS app. Thank god for technology. "Turn left here," Juliette instructed with her eyes on the device.

"I'm expecting you not to crash, though, Mr. Cyclops," she raised her eyebrow again as she turned back to Sam. "What happened to the whole 'lack of depth perception making it difficult to drive' thing?"

”Yesterday.” he said without much explanation at first. Sam turned left as directed and continued to follow her direction to the field because he really had no idea how to get there. A random building in the heart of New York city or a random mountain or hill in Canada sure. Fields weren’t his thing only because he hadn’t had too much experience with them. The last time he tried to go to a farm was when he was being tracked by TATMAH the last time he escaped for good. Needless to say it wasn’t a good location for hiding being out in the open.

”I just told you that so I didn’t have to drive.” lied Sam driving was more difficult but he didn’t want Juliette to play with his new toy before he did. ”I had a lot of blood loss that day.” Sam said smirking, ”Surprised you still remembered it though.” he grinned and revved the engine a bit making note to break when needed. Luckily driving was still as much muscle memory as it was looking out the mirrors.

”…. I gave the car to Alex.” Sam said his eye shifted forward as he felt Juliette they still haven’t talked much about him. Changing the subject he added, ”But I’m thinking about this pie thing again…. Can you bake?” he asked with a smirk, ”I love pie.”

"Yesterday?" Juliette parroted. She nodded quietly to herself as she thought about it. "Impulse buy or a planned thing?" She wondered aloud. Sam hadn't told her about it, so she figured it might have been the former. Or maybe he just didn't share the details about his car-buying habits with her.

"How thoughtful," she stuck out her tongue at him. Her arm rested against the car window next to her and she leaned her head against it as she watched the little car move on her GPS screen. "Kind of difficult to forget being shot at and then driving an injured guy home afterwards. Not to mention the lions..." She grinned absently at the thought of that day and all of the things she had been introduced to. Many of them had somehow managed to become integral parts of her life in a short period of time.

She nodded silently at the comment of Alex. She pursed her lips slightly at the thought of Sam's adopted son. They hadn't talked much about it, so it was still a topic that was a little touchy. She had yet to meet him, but she knew it had to happen eventually. The thought of it loomed over her head, and she almost wished she could just get it over with. She made a mental note to bring it up again at some point when they weren't about to go get pumpkins.

Back to the subject she wanted to focus on. "Better than I can cook," she winked at him. "I can try my hand at it, but I can't promise anything. Turn right."

”Yes.”’ Sam said shifting his gaze to Juliette still mindful of the road even with one eye, the wonders of being sober. ”
We talked about this date and you said that we needed something to take some pumpkins back with so…” Sam patted the dashboard and then put both hands back on the wheel. ”Still don’t have a name for her yet though.” Sam said thinking about it, ”Actually I don’t… I haven’t named any of my vehicles… except the jet. Good ol’ blackbird.” he didn’t name the jet but Juliette didn’t need to know that. ”Well I figured you’d see it so… surprise.” Sam said with a little smirk.

”Wait there were lions?” Sam asked feigning surprise. ”I remember getting shot and then kissing you.” he smirked, ”Everything else was a blur.” Sam said with a little chuckle as he teased the light sponge.

”Promises aren’t everything.” Sam said as he turned right as he was told. ”I’ve had great pies and bad pies. Pumpkin happens to be one of my favorites. Had a birthday when I was fourteen in a diner. An old waitress brought one out with a candle on it. Ever since then… pies… love’em.” Sam said trying to remember the waitress name. Diane? Melody? Something that was popular in the 50’s. It didn’t matter now though.

”So, is it just picking pumpkins or is there an itinerary?” Sam asked curiously as he kept driving. ”Gonna sound stupid but I heard there was cider and doughnuts.” Sam said thinking more about it. ”Or is that just at an apple orchard?” he asked. He wished he had time to do a little research on it but this was one of the few things he had never had time to focus on until now. Juliette it seemed was great motivation.

”So you bought a truck just to bring pumpkins back in? Now that-” she tapped the side of the truck with her hand ”-is devotion. You must really like pumpkins.”.

”A name… That’s a tricky thing. You should pick something meaningful. Or something not. I don’t know, I don’t usually name vehicles,” she laughed quietly at her lack of ideas.

”Well, good to know I made an impression,” she grinned. ”Turn right again.” A sign appeared on the road that read King Family Pumpkin Farm.

”Darn, now I have to compete with birthday pie? There’s no way I’ll be able to even come close,” Juliette frowned a little. Her baking skills were better than her cooking skills by a long shot, but they still weren’t exactly what someone would call ‘good’.

She thought back to previous experiences with pumpkin picking, and what she had done then. ”Well, pumpkin picking is a must, and pretty much everything else is optional. There’s usually cider of some kind, occasionally some food, and there’s typically either a corn maze or a hay ride available. Sometimes both.”

Sam shrugged, ”Yeah. Well I thought we could bring some extras back for some of the kids. I was going to buy a car but it made more sense for a truck so…” the more Sam thought about it the more he realized that this was something he would have done before the mind control and general mistrust of him in the eyes of the mansionits. Sam shifted his eye over to Juliette and smirked, she seemed like she was a good influence as well.

Looking back to the road and turning right on command he spotted the sign and kept driving. ”So what your saying is you won’t bake me pie?” Sam said trying not to sound heart broken as he teased her more. ”At least try? I can Ghost you as you cook?” Sam asked humming unchained melody for a few moments. She got Zepplin maybe she liked the ‘King’ or any other singer of that song.

When he spotted the parking lot Sam pulled into the hay covered lot. ”You mind if we try it all? Teach me your ways oh mighty Pumpkin Picking Queen” Sam asked as he threw the car in park. ”You want a sweater?” Sam asked as he opened the door and picked one up from behind his seat. It was his and it was clean, Sam didn’t know what weather to expect so he decided to pack some supplies for the date.