Pumpkin Picking
"Come on, Chili, this one will be perfect!" The blue vespire let his crystal claws rest on a nicely round pumpkin, sitting in the middle of the vegetable field.
"I've told you already, I'm not looking for that kind." The red vespire retorted, his ears flicking in annoyance. Despite his irritation, Chili kept his expression calm. They had to find one that fit his tastes, eventually, Mishal surmised, and his friend was apparently holding onto that hope.
"I can't believe you want to grab an ugly pumpkin on purpose!" Mishal complained in mock irritation, frowning as he looked at his companion. It was just to rile him up. Chili's black chevron nose twitched, proof that the taunt had worked. He was too easy to read.
"Distorted is not ugly!" He barked, thick tail lashing behind him. Mishal loved to tease him and knew Chili to be short tempered, which made it even funnier. The vespire never got truly angry at his friend, and in turn, Mishal didn't get offended by his almost constant outbursts, as was fair.
"Okay, okay" He laughed, approaching the other to quickly rub at him in apology. "I think I know the place to look for your pumpkin muse." Mishal smiled, looking up at Chili with a twinkle in his eyes. The other had a hint of curiosity in his gaze, and merely followed Mishal as he walked, deftly avoiding several patches of plump-looking pumpkins.
They finally arrived at an area shadowed by a big oak tree. The rust colored ground was mostly devoid of any pumpkins, except for a few ugly ones in appearance. Mishal wouldn't say that about the pumpkins out loud, of course, specially after he noticed Chili's eyes light up.
"This is just the one!" The red vespire announced with a big grin.
"Nice!" Mishal cheered. "I suspected there might be a few shy pumpkins in this shadowy place." He explained. "It had grabbed my eye before, but I just ignored it because I was looking for the real thing." He provoked, but Chili merely sent him an ugly look and partially ignored him in favor of grabbing his chosen pumpkin and lifting it up, testing its weight. After he deemed it good enough, he beckoned Mishal with a movement of his head.
"Come on, let's get going. We need to carve these."
After they'd gone and done, both seemed satisfied with their designs. Mishal took the opportunity to ask something that had been in his mind for a good while, but hadn't been asked before because he suspected Chili wouldn't give him a true answer.
"Why did you pick one that looked like this?" His tone was genuine this time, so that his friend knew he wasn't provoking him.
"I figured no one else would." Chili decided to respond after a while. His frank words surprised Mishal. "I wouldn't want to be a pumpkin no one chooses." He surmised, and then intently stared at his finished product with a deep gaze. Mishal said nothing, merely letting out a sigh at the revelation.