Nadoki65

Aqua made it home without incident still pondering what to do with his Lumina pumpkin. He opened the door and sat his bag gently inside with the pumpkins rustling softly as they settled to the ground. He decided the best course of action was to do what everyone did when they needed ideas, look online! 

He walked over to his bedroom where his computer was set up and booted it up. He idly straightened his mouse pad as the screen flickered to the login page. Quickly typing in his password he navigated to the internet as soon as his desktop appeared and typed in his query.

"Pumpkin Carving Ideas" and hit search! A plethora of results soon filled his screen, from regular jack o lanterns to popular character image carvings and lots more in between. One type caught his eye...a big pumpkin eating a smaller pumpkin! It was both interesting and unique he thought and it just so happened that he had picked up two miniature pumpkins while he was out! 

Grinning with satisfaction he went to go find his carving tools sure he had left them in the kitchen from his recent grocery trip. As he was going through some bags of pantry foods he hadn't put up yet his phone rang. Pausing in his search of the tools he moved to grab his phone and answered. 

“Hello?” He greeted.

“You're late.” The sound of his good friend Elliot said flatly.

Huh? Aqua thought pausing a beat too long. 

“You forgot!” Elliot exclaimed miserably with a noticeable pout.

“I did not!” Aqua tried his best to sound indignant. But he did. He totally forgot that he was supposed to hang out with his friends today…

“I'm just running a little behind trying to find my pumpkin carving tools.” He added trying to cover his mistake.

“Oh! Is that all?” Elliott asked back to being his usual chipper self. “Don't worry about it, we have extra here! Just hurry over!” 

After confirming that he was on his way he got off the phone and with one glance towards the unsearched bags shrugged and headed back to the front room. He quickly grabbed his bag filled with pumpkins and then his Halloween costume which he stuffed into the bag before heading out the door. 

He ran as quickly as he could to Firo's house without looking like a total loon thanking the heavens that he only lived a street over. He arrived at the cosy abode fairly quickly only slightly out of breath. He took a moment to admire the skeleton pasted to the door while his heart returned to a normal pace then he knocked loudly before letting himself in. 

As soon as he opened the door his nose was filled with the smell of sugar cookies and he smiled widely and yelled "I'm here!" as he closed the door behind him. He followed the noise of chatter to the kitchen where his two friends were in the midst of making the aromatic cookies. 

"Finally you're here slowpoke!" Elliot exclaimed good naturedly while Firo's eyes crinkled with his amused smile. Aqua slung his bag to the ground by the chair he pulled out for himself and sat across from Elliot who was mixing the dough in a big bowl. “Is there anything I can do to help?” He inquired. Firo hummed and then brought out some almonds and sat them down in front of Aqua before handing him a knife. “Actually can you help slice these nuts? I don’t trust Elliot with sharp objects.” 

Elliot grumbled a bit under his breath and the two settled into their individual tasks as Firo got a cookie pan ready and sprayed it. Soon enough Elliot declared the dough ready to be shaped and asked for the next step. Firo grabbed his note card to double check the instructions before saying, “We need to make 5-inch-long rolls about 1/2-inch thick and then some scoring for the knuckles.” Elliot grunted an affirmative as he started to roll some dough between his hands making the sausage shape. “So the nuts will be the nails then? For the fingers?” Aqua asked finishing up with his task and setting the knife aside.

“Yup, I thought witch finger cookies would be a nice and spooky treat for Halloween. Plus Elliot insisted on something different from the usual.” Firo replied with an amused glance at Elliot. The Eoses in question paused and looked up before stating matter of factly “Circle cookies are lame and boring! So obviously we had to do better than that!” Firo and Aqua both laughed at their friend before helping him finish up along with adding the almond slices to the tips of each cookie. 

“Pumpkin carving time now?” Aqua inquired as Firo took the cookie tray and stuck it into the oven to cook. “Yes! Do you know what you are going to carve?” Elliot asked as he and Aqua started clearing the table and putting the dirty dishes into the sink. While all the boys were grabbing their pumpkins and putting them on the table Aqua explained his plans to them. Elliot always the excitable one enthusiastically agreed with his pumpkin eater idea. As Firo placed the sets of carving tools on the table he also expressed how impressed he was with the idea. “I really love that idea but as for me, I think I’ll stick with just the classic Jack-O-Lantern”.

Quickly the three got started with their carvings and Aqua’s other unused miniature pumpkin was swiped by Elliot so that he could make a similar yet still different 2 pumpkin idea. “It’s going to be an angler fish.” He exclaimed puffing up proudly. The other two nodded their agreement. “It’s definitely different…” along with “I guess we better find some wire to attach the smaller pumpkin to it…”

All in all the carving progressed mostly smoothly with Firo helping the other two with some of the more detailed carving of the teeth in both pumpkins all while they chattering away. Somewhere along the way the oven had beeped and the cookies were taken out to cool and so when the pumpkins were finished being carved the boys were able to munch away while admiring their handiwork. While Elliot’s angler fish was a bit more detailed with all the sharp jagged teeth carved into the mouth, it was Aqua’s pumpkin that was more visually striking with the ghostly white Lumina eating the brightly contrasting little orange pumpkin. And then there was Firo’s a nice yellowish orange pumpkin with a nice friendly smile carved in it. All three of them were very pleased with themselves and as they continued hanging out the clock eventually chimed 6:00pm

“It’s Time!” Firo and Aqua both laughed at their friends enthusiasm before all three grabbed their costumes and separated to get changed into them. A few minutes later they had assembled again in the kitchen all decked out in Halloween attire. 

Elliot wore a black coat with little bat wings attached to his back. Funnily enough even though he already had pointy teeth he had also chosen to wear the fake plastic vampire teeth that was a staple at any Halloween store. They looked silly but on Elliot they were also somehow fitting.

Firo wore a white undershirt with a rich dark blue vest over it along with black slacks and combat boots. He also wore the tell tell eye patch over his left eye with the skull and crossbones insignia across it. Hanging lazily at his waist was a plastic scabbard that pulled his look together.

Lastly Aqua had decided to be a vampire as a compliment to Elliot’s being a bat. He wore a deep blood red vest that contrasted nicely with his dark blue fur and over that a black cloak. He had switched out temporarily his key necklace with a flashy piece of costume jewelry that was a golden nine pointed star with a red swarovski crystal in the center. He had of course opted out of wearing the over the top plastic fangs.

As the three of them were finishing up getting ready and grabbing their candy bags they heard the front door open and someone come head to the kitchen where they still were. A coral colored Phantagrin wearing head to toe black appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Are you guys ready yet?”

“Hi, Phoebe” The guys chorused before Firo answered “Yeah, just about to head out actually.”

“Awesome!” She replied as they all headed to the front door. 

Curiously Aqua asked, “So what were you up to that you couldn’t hang out with us before now?”

Phoebe hesitated before trying to cover smoothly with a “I had a couple errands that I needed to do first.” She hedged.

Firo was the next to speak up and asked. “Phoebe are you supposed…to be a spy?”

Grinning brightly and seizing the opportunity of the change of subject she quickly responded with an affirmative. “Yup! See my utility belt and spy glasses?” She asked cheerfully while pointing to said belt with little plastic gadgets attached and her tinted shades.

“Oh, that makes a lot more sense.” Elliot commented snarkily. Everyone paused just outside the front door with an air of confusion as Firo closed the door behind them.

“Huh?” Phoebe was the only one to voice her confusion.

“You being dressed as a spy.” Elliot continued helpfully. “We all know you are boy crazy. Who were you stalking this time? Murdoc?” He questioned.

“No-o” She stuttered unconvincingly as a small blush started flushing her complexion which luckily her fur helped to hide.

Firo and Aqua exchanged an amused yet exasperated glance behind the two more than used to their bickering.

“Phoebe and Murdoc sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G~” Elliot started to tease laughing.

Phoebe embarrassment started shifting to aggravation at her friends prodding as her body tensed, her fists balled, and her ears laid back against her head. Suddenly her grinning facade turned into a murderous smile as she informed him “I’m going to kill you!”

Elliot quickly cut his song short and gave her a nervous look. The tear streams from his over enthusiasm at her expense now served to give him a truly terrified expression. Before she could utter another word he bolted down the street. “You have to catch me first!~”

“Aarrgh!!!” She screamed before tearing off after him.

Firo and Aqua just looked at each other before bursting out laughing at the two disappearing down the road. There was never a dull moment with those two around.

“Guess we better catch up with them” Aqua said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, before they get themselves into anymore trouble.” Firo sighed with a smile in his voice.

And so they jogged after their two rambunctious friends so that they could spend the rest of Halloween night together.

Beep! Beep!

    From a nest of pillows a slender blue arm reached out and silenced the alarm. A paw then quickly rubbed the sleep out of a grinning face before the Grinling jumped up from his bed of cushions. Today was a very important day! Today was the day he would be able to venture out to Halloween Town and take part in the festivities! Aqua was practically vibrating with excitement as he had been looking forward to the Pumpkin Picking event all year long. He quickly stretched out like a cat to help shake the last vestiges of sleep from his body before grabbing his satchel and slinging it over his shoulder and headed out the door.

    He trotted through the bustling city where he lived and towards the outskirts where Halloween Town had been set up for the season. The buildings slowly started to fall away as open farmland fields started to come into view along with the large tents and buildings making up his destination. He walked up to the entrance with pillars made of stacked pumpkins before passing his ticket to the grinning Phantagrin. Once inside the area was bustling with patrons of all shapes and sizes with different stalls of various fall food and activities. But he only had eyes for Pumpkin Picking! He cast his gaze around until he spotted the sign towards the back with the pumpkin patch stretching off as far as the eye can see and he hurried over.

    Aqua’s grin widened as he stepped into the patch and gazed fondly at all the pumpkins of all types. He strolled past Giant, miniature, blue, white, reddish-orange, green, and the classic orange type pumpkins. There were also classically shaped ones as well as warty and deep ribbed ones. It really was an amazing site to behold! He paused by a tiny bright orange miniature pumpkin and gently picked it up, turning it around and checking it over for any blemishes or defects. After the quick inspection he opened his satchel to place it safely inside and as he was buttoning the clasp back, he heard a growing commotion nearby and looked over.

    A crowd was quickly gathering around an individual holding a…golden pumpkin?! His heart started pounding as he rushed over too in order to get a closer look. The golden pumpkin was a myth spread around to all young children almost the same way as the Great Pumpkin in that old children’s show. But it was only a story believed by children as no such pumpkin had ever been found. Although the festival promised a nice winnings to whoever found the pumpkin it was widely believed to be just a fun gimmick for the kids to look forward too. But what if he was wrong? Should he have put more stock into the old fairytale and looked instead of just browsing the pumpkins casually? With a spot of regret he came up next to the crowd and saw the pumpkin in question up close and had to contain his relief.

    Swallowing a quiet chuckle, he gazed at the yellow pumpkin which was a hybrid called Mellow Yellow. From far away and with the help of the angle of the sun the yellow had seemed golden, but it was just a silly illusion. With a shake of his head and an amused grin he turned back to his original pumpkin browsing. What he was looking for was not a golden pumpkin but the perfect pumpkin for carving! He stopped by a couple large pumpkins before deciding that they would be too hard to carry back home and passed them by. His grin dimmed as he passed by nicely colored pumpkins, but their shapes were not to his preference and the ones with good roundness didn’t have his preferred coloration. He sighed heavily wondering if it just wasn’t meant to be and looked up to the sky forlornly.

    In the sky a raven caught his attention and he watched it lazily soaring in the sky before it suddenly changed coarse and dived nearby him. His ears perked as he looked at the bird munching away on his captured insect prey but what really caught his eye was the beautiful pumpkin the raven was perched on. It was a Lumina pumpkin with hauntingly gorgeous pale white flesh, an eerie contrast to the elegant raven perched atop it and it was perfect! He slowly walked over after the raven had finished his meal and the bird watched him curiously before lifting back of in flight with a parting caw.

    His grin was a little nervous as he carefully picked up the pale pumpkin and with careful paws turned it over inspecting it with a critical eye. It had a nice round full shape to it and the white was bright and unblemished by rot or decay. With a triumphant full powered grin, he gave the precious pumpkin a loving pat and reverently placed it into his satchel. With a hop in his step he started trotting back through the pumpkin patch towards the entrance to head home with his spoils. He absentmindedly stopped to snag another miniature pumpkin as they really were just too cute to resist before resuming on his way.

    He nodded to the pumpkin patch worker as he happily paid for his haul and started making his way out of the Halloween Town festival all the while his mind was on the Lumina. Not only was is a great pumpkin to carve with its thinner walls but it was also more unique than the usual run of the mill Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins that were most widely used with the expected orange coloration. Another plus of the Lumina was the seeds! His chest rumbled happily thinking of roasting the seeds and then maybe coating them in chocolate…

    As he made his way back through his town and could see his house start to come into view his mind came back from it’s wandering tangent of seed cooking. He realized suddenly that before he could eat any seeds that he needed to figure out what kind of design to carve into his pumpkin! The next great task now currently awaited him.