Prompt 2: Pumpkin Carving

He hums, walking through the store, trying not to be led astray by the sheer amount of Halloween decorations in the store. He’s got more then enough, even Divine raised an eyebrow about him bringing home the last set, he’s not going to do it. Abner is going to walk past and only buy what they need, but then his eyes get pulled aside. At the end of the isle is a large box of pumpkins, they’re massive and he doesn’t even register his feet having taken him over to them and then he has one in his hands. It feels good, not too heavy but also not too hollow, it’s also, Abner does a double take; it’s also ridiculously cheap. Is it really that cheap, come on it can’t really be considered him buying another Halloween decoration, a pumpkin itself isn’t really a decoration and it’s not like he needs to buy a decorative kit, they’ve got the needed tools at home.
He smiles softly and carefully plonks the pumpkin in the cart. If either of the family ask, well he’ll just play dumb, pumpkin, what pumpkin.

Abner doesn’t get the pumpkin out until both Varen and Divine are firmly out of the house, taking Maxie to wear off some of his excess energy with a massive hike. Now he pulls it out from the cupboard he put it in, hefting it out onto the table. He grabs a pen and some knives, it’s easier and cheaper to just use the ones they already own, kits aren’t as strong and there’s no point in spending more money when you’ve got better equipment at home.
Abner stares at the orange beast for a bit, trying to work out what his design should be, creepy, cute, something between? He’s pretty sure he wants to do something more intricate, sure Abner’s skills might not be up there, and there are some gorgeous simplistic designs out there. But if your hands are slightly shaky and you know you can’t get the cuts straight, well then it makes more sense to go more detailed. A wobble in one of many designs isn’t as obvious as a wobble in a single one.
His tongue sneaks out of his mouth in concentration, before he then uncaps the pen and begins to sketch onto the pumpkin, he wants to do something his family will love.
Leaning back, he takes the design in from afar before then nodding, yeah, that looks good. Now it’s the hard and messy part. Though he can at least use the pumpkin’s innards, he grab some extra baking ingredients and he can get Divine to help him knock up a pie and maybe even cake once they get back.

Glancing up at the clock he sighs as he heads to the sink to rinse his hands, the pumpkin flesh always ends up everywhere, and it’s even worse if you’re someone like him and smothered in fur. However, he hopes, despite how long it’s taken already, that maybe the boys will be out for even longer, Maxie and Divine both seemed so full of energy this morning.
However, that isn’t something he needs to panic about right now, he should just get to carving the pumpkin, if they arrive home before he’s done, well it’s still a bit of a surprise, better then just a hollow pumpkin. His hand shakes slightly and he tries to ignore it, he’ll just cut out the main gaps in first, and then carve the holes better so that first, he doesn’t have to try and deal with all the rind first, but can also get used to cutting it and its thickness rather than having to deal with it all at once. Or at least, that idea makes sense in Abner’s head about how to deal with it.
It’s slightly tougher than he expected, not that he really knew what he would expect, he can’t really remember the last time he carved a pumpkin, let alone the last time he did it by himself and it wasn’t pre-prepped by a more sensible adult. However, once he’s gotten used to it, it’s pretty easy, well not easy but it defiantly goes smoothly. Once he’s emptied the holes themselves, he looks it over again, making sure that his design is actually coming out how he likes it to look like and it is, which makes him very happy. It’s clearly not the neatest and there’s defiantly a couple slip ups that he can’t undo or carve into the design but that’s okay, it’s home made so a few mistakes don’t matter, just proves it’s made with love. So now, he goes into carving the edges, though this proves more anxiety then the first half, the finer detail at more risk until finally he’s done and luckily the door hasn’t sounded at all, they’re not home yet so he’s still got some time, hopefully.
As he goes to wash the knives he used, as well as his arms again, because they ended up covered in pumpkin juice and pulp, for the second time. Once he gets to the sink he glances back and can’t help the smile that creeps onto his face, it’s defiantly not the neatest thing in the world, nor the best, but he made it and that’s what really matters.
Grabbing the pumpkin it’s then hefted to the porch, carefully plonked down and a fake candle is turned on and put inside it, no open flames as Maxie level, before he heads back inside.
Varen and Divine return home with an exhausted Maxie to see themselves, orange and carved in pumpkin smiling in greeting to them.