Comment-A-Thon Round 11 - Mystery-palooza

[kriadydragon]

With Halloween coming up I thought another prompt list was in order ;)

Readers, as usual, leave prompt. Choosing something from the prompt list as your request theme is optional.

Prompt/Request:
Characters:
I would Like:
I Don't Want:

Writers, you can either choose a prompt or choose something directly from the prompt list.

Comments

Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kriadydragon]

Peter's hands were covered so thickly with pumpkin guts that two seconds of his fingers touching together felt like they'd been permanently glued. More strings and seeds were piled over nearly every inch of the newspapers protecting the kitchen table, with more starting to drop to the floor despite Peter's efforts to stop them and Satchmo's enthusiastic licking. But the real salt on the wound were the damn tiny saws and knives specifically created to carve pumpkins. Specifically created his ass. They were tools of pumpkin torture, plain and simple. And human torture.

"This is impossible," Peter growled when the saw slipped, putting another unnecessary slice in his pumpkin's already mutilated face.

"Finesse, Peter," Neal said. "You have to give it more finesse, more patience. Pretend it's a suspect you're trying to talk a confession out of, not a suspect you're trying to wrestle a gun from."

Peter glared, even though Neal wasn't paying attention, too busy finessing the tiny saw through his own pumpkin as though the shell were made of butter. Because of course - of course - even a damn pumpkin would melt under Neal's charm.

"Easy for you to say, Picasso, you're the one with the art skills." Peter sawed a crooked smile into the pumpkin with mounting agitation. "You're probably carving a perfect likeness of The thinker into that thing."

"Peter, less like you're carving cold roast beef, more like you're polishing your mom's crystal. Haven't you ever carved a pumpkin before?"

"Mostly under duress. My mom didn't think it was Halloween unless there were smiling pumpkins, and no one went anywhere unless those happy pumpkins were on the porch."

"And yet you've learned nothing."

"I learned the faster I can get it done the better. Does that count?"

When Neal hooded his gaze at Peter, Peter sagged with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know." This was for El and June and the Halloween shindig they'd been planning since the start of the month. Peter had been the one to talk both of them out of spending money just to have people carve fruit that would eventually rot, so El recruited him instead. Peter had then recruited Neal because, well, it was Neal, and the guy had to have some mean pumpkin carving skills.

And he did, four pumpkins in, two with goofy faces right out of a cartoon and two perfect renditions of Dracula's and Frankenstein's faces. While Peter's...

Peter looked down at his two "traditional" faces verging on deformed and sighed a second time.

Suddenly, Neal was next to him, shouldering him out of the way. "Look, Peter, like this," he said, easing the small saw through the thick shell with slow, incremental, but most especially gentle motions. "See what I'm doing? Just like that."

Peter chuffed, shaking his head in awe. "Is there any art medium you can't do?"

Neal smirked. "If you can carve stone and shape clay, a pumpkin is nothing."

"I don't suppose there's such a thing as forging a pumpkin, is there?" Peter joked.

Neal's smile softened into something wistful. "No, unfortunately. To be honest, pumpkin carving is somewhat of a novelty. I..." he trailed off, the smile trailing off with him.

Peter held perfectly still, waiting for Neal to continue, the room wrapped in fragile silence.

"It's not something I got to do a lot," Neal went on.

"Not even as a kid?" Peter asked.

Neal shrugged. "Pumpkins aren't always cheap." Then the wistful smile returned. "But when they were, I always made sure that whatever I carved was the best I could make it. You shouldn't let good things go to waste, right?"

Smiling back, Peter patted him on the shoulder. "Right."

"Okay, now you try," Neal said, stepping back. Peter stepped in and retook his pumpkin and saw, carving with the patient care Neal had showed him, with Neal offering both encouragement and pointers. The result was a pumpkin that, though no pumpkin-related art forgery (if there was such a thing), was still one Peter felt okay with showing in public. They did the same with the mutilated pumpkins, making sure not a single one was wasted.

The End.

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[tj_teejay]

Aw, that's adorable. Just what I imagined. Perfect! Thank you so much!!

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kriadydragon]

So happy you liked it :D It was really fun to write.

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[sholio]

This is completely adorable, and I love how there are little character insights -- bits and pieces of their childhoods -- woven into it. :D

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kriadydragon]

Thank you :D

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[ktrn_lucas88]

Awww...so nice. Now I want a "pumpkin-forgerie" for Halloween.

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kriadydragon]

Thank you :D

How would one go about doing a pumpkin forgery?

"Neal, what in the world possessed you to paint a Raphael on a pumpkin?" ;)

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kanarek13]

That was simply adorable... I could almost see Peter's glare when Neal was finessing it all the way...LOL :D

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kriadydragon]

Thank you :D

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[saphirablue]

Forging Pumpkins! =) For whatever reason that makes me very happy! =)

I love that this time Neal is teaching Peter something and that we get a little backstory of him. :)

Thank you! :)

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[kriadydragon]

Happy you enjoyed :D

Re: Carving Pumpkins (G)

[ext_840786]

aww, so sweet. I especially love the hint about Neal's past and not getting to care pumpkins much.