Apple Pie

          Two Scarfoxes stood in an orchard, trees abundant with apples surrounding them. One of them, standing at 5 feet in height, had snowy white fur on their legs, back, and tail, along with tufts of white fur on the backs of their hands. The fox’s tail was somewhat overgrown at the time, and many dreadlocks littered its wool-like fur. A shock of white covered their eyes, glasses hidden beneath said hair, and went between their ears, the latter of which were black on the backside and light blue on the front side. Their face, chest, inner arms, and inner thighs were black, like charcoal, and the outer sides of their arms were detailed with a light blue and white plaid coloring. They wore a scarf of a similar pattern around their neck, with a silver bell dangling from it. In their hand was a woven basket, holding a few apples in it.

The other fox stood six inches above the first, and its body was mostly covered with beige and light brown colors. Its outer thighs and legs were a very light brown, the lower half of said legs adorned with dark blue garments that slipped on to work as shoes. A stripe of light brown went from its mouth towards its ears, which were a light beige color on the inside and the usual light brown on the outside. It had a full head of brown hair, this time a rather dark color in comparison to the rest of its body, and it wore a plain beige crown. Its chest wore garments of dark blue, a red jewel at the center of these clothes, and its arms were the same blue color, each hand with another red jewel on its back.

The light blue Scarfox was the first to speak between the two, glaring at the other fox. “The recipe says we need eight to ten apples, Sora. We won’t get enough at this rate if you keep eating them!”

Sora, the taller, beige fox, turned towards their companion, holding an apple in their hand. “Come on, Billy, there are plenty of apples here! Eating a few won’t make it impossible for us to get enough!”

Billy looked in his basket, their free hand moving to rub their other arm nervously. The fox had a habit of fidgeting when they were nervous about something, and nervous they were currently. Sora was rather calm, on the other hand, not seeming to care whether or not they got enough apples to fit Billy’s recipe. Sora took a bite of their apple before turning back towards the tree they were picking from, reaching up with their free hand and picking an apple, putting it into Billy’s basket before Sora took another bite of their own apple.

Billy looked back up at Sora, thankful the fox was willing to come with them, as Billy had a hard time picking the apples on their own. As time passed, Sora would eat an apple periodically between their picking, while Billy continued to think about if they had the right ingredients for the rest of what they wanted to make. When the basket was full, Billy and Sora left the forest to return home, arriving to a well-cleaned home that belonged to Billy. In the kitchen were the necessary things for their dish: an apple pie. Sora leaned against a nearby wall, crossing his arms and eating another apple while Billy laid out ten apples in a very neat line, going so far as to adjust a few just to make the line straighter.

Sora smirked, munching on another apple as they watched the other fox obsess over the slightest imperfection. Billy looked towards Sora with a slight frown, annoyed the beige fox wasn’t doing anything to help. Turning back to their ingredients, Billy decided to finally stop messing with the apples and start working with their other ingredients. As Billy chopped and mixed, Sora kept snacking on some apples they saved for themselves, aimlessly looking around the kitchen in wait for the end result. Eventually, Sora’s eyes fell on the oven, which was turned off, and realized Billy, in their worry over other things, forgot to turn on the oven so it could preheat. Sora smirked and held in a chuckle as he went to do it himself, and the beeps alerted Billy’s attention to Sora’s actions. Billy blushed, having forgotten a rather simple task, and thanked their companion for the help. Sora smiled and returned to the wall they were leaning against, continuing to snack on apples as Billy prepared the pie itself.

Soon enough, the pie was sitting in the oven, and all that was left to do was wait for the delicacy to cook. Billy and Sora sat at a small dining table, a basket of leftover apples between them. Billy watched Sora snack on apple after apple, which eventually led the blue and white fox to finally grab an apple of their own, biting down on it. Sora smiled a bit wider and chuckled as they spoke. “Finally having one for yourself, eh?”

Billy nodded, munching on the apple before also saying something. “Well… we have leftovers, so we may as well enjoy them… right?”

Sora laughed, happy to hear that Billy was finally indulging themselves, even if it was somewhat reluctantly. The two continued to talk back and forth to each other, passing time while their pie baked in the nearby oven. A timer ticked away on a nearby counter, marking the time left before the dish was done as the time was approaching, Sora stood near the oven with Billy, eager to see how well they did in making their food. Soon, the timer started beeping, which was quickly silenced by Sora’s pressing one of its buttons. Billy, equipped with Scarfox-sized oven mitts, grabbed the pie and moved it to a suitable location, smelling it and smiling. Sora did the same, and the two nodded their agreement that they did well. As the pie cooled, Sora had to constantly resist the urge to cut a slice and eat it then and there, but he was able to stop himself from burning his mouth. Eventually, however, the two foxes were sitting at their table yet again, each of them with a plate of pie in front of them and ready to dig in.

Sora took the first bite between the two, and they smiled with delight as they tasted the sweet, sweet flavors. To them, it was the best pie they could remember having. In the meantime, Billy was a bit slower to take a bite, admiring their creation before deciding to finally dig in themselves. Like Sora, Billy couldn’t help but smile as they tasted the dish, pleased with the results of what they had made. From across the table, the two foxes could just sense their agreement. The pie was delicious, and that was the simplest way to put it. From the crust to the apples to everything else, it was simply delicious. When the foxes were done, Sora was the one left to wash the dishes while Billy put the rest of the pie in the fridge for later. The two talked and joked as time passed, which made their respective tasks go by much quicker. When all was said and done, the foxes were still left feeling satisfied with their creation, and were already excited for the next time they had a slice.

The first pie only lasted a few days between the two foxes, and soon they were back in the orchard to pick more. This time, Billy found himself enjoying some apples of his own before they went back to the house to cook another pie. As the season passed, this cycle continued for the pair, pie after pie being baked and eaten. It never got old, either, and the two always enjoyed having the company of one another, whether it was in the kitchen or in the orchard. As if that wasn’t enough, every pie was better than the last, Sora eventually helping Billy more in the kitchen so they could continually improve the taste. A point came when they didn’t think it could even get any better, but the pattern continued, and better it got. Whether the quality increase was in the taste, texture, or even in the physical appearance of the pie itself, SOMETHING improved from one pie to the next. It was a wonderful cycle, one that lasted a good, long time until the apples were all picked from the orchard. At that point, it was simply time to wait for the next time apples were in season, when the foxes could enjoy another month or two of delicious pies. Between Billy and Sora, the wait was well worth it, and Billy spent much time researching more ways to improve on future pies. Sora went out and looked at the apple trees, wondering if anything could be done to improve the apples themselves. With the two foxes working on a team, the next year was sure to be filled with EVEN better pies.