Requested by Thatoneguywhoexists
Word Count: 2,356 words.
Background: Loosely based on Season 8.

»»———✧✦———««

False was simply relaxing, unwinding after spending a good couple of hours gathering resources when the sound of fireworks was heard... and then the sounds of a loud crash followed.

She quietly groaned, not wanting to get up to investigate. Hoping that whoever was there would, perhaps, soon go away or perhaps had run out of rockets and would soon leave after a couple of minutes, she closed her eyes and waited.

However, some more sounds of movements were soon heard. It seemed they had no plans to leave/or did not want to leave for they were indeed persistent.

False let out a soft sigh as she got up and placed the book she was reading at the side.

"I wonder who's dropped by?" She wondered, making her way. Turning a corner, her eyes glanced down to the scattered materials and items that were lying on the floor, before noticing the Hermit that was hurriedly picking stuff up and placing it in a chest.

"Are you okay?" False questioned.

They jumped a little, having been caught off guard. "Oh- uh, sorry about this False," They apologised, turning to face her. Their hand, which was floating and holding an item, was lowered back down and they placed the item in the chest. "But either way, hello!" They chirped.

"Hi Grian," She greeted. "What brings you here?"

Placing the last couple of items that were scattered away (False figured that he had probably tipped over a chest when he had entered, which would've explained the crash she had heard) Grian straightened up and looked at her with excitement. "It's your lucky day! You've won a special ticket!"

"Ticket?" False repeated, she tilted her head in confusion. "I haven't entered any ticket-winning competitions though-"

"Ah yes well, uh... you have now!"

"So what have I won in that case?" She curiously asked.

"A chance to go pumpkin carving with me!"

False shook her head, and she chuckled. "Of course, I should've known."

"A very awesome experience, if you ask me!"

"I don't see any pumpkins though. All I see are those empty crates?" She gestured to the grates (that had not been there earlier) that were on the floor, next to Grian.

"Yes, about that-'' Grian awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I have a slight issue..."

"Let me guess, you have no pumpkins?" False guessed.

"What! No, of course not-"

False raised an eyebrow, "So what's the issue then?"

"I uh- yeah alright, I have no pumpkins... sadly," Grian admitted. "So I was wondering if you wanted to search for pumpkins with me, since everybody else I've asked is busy, and then carve them?"

"Have you asked a lot of Hermits?"

"Yeah," Grian nodded. "See I asked Mumbo first, but he said he wasn't able to do it since he wasn't sure if it worked with his peace, love and plants which is pretty ironic for a potato boy eating potatoes! And then everybody else I asked was somehow busy- You think they'd be ready for this season when you can go pumpkin carving because it fits the season, but nope! They're suddenly all so busy..."

"Sounds difficult, I mean I don't have any plans for today so I can help!"

"Wait really?"

"Yep!"

"Yes!" Grian cheered, a smile on his face.

"Let me just grab my sword (she had an axe on her) and we'll get going then."

"Alright," Grian nodded.

Rummaging through her chest, False grabbed a sword before heading back to Grian. She hoped it would go somewhat smoothly but it couldn't possibly go that wrong, could it?

It turned out that quite a few things could go wrong. For starters, Grian had somehow managed to get himself soaked by falling into a river after being startled by a fox.

"I- why are you dripping with water?" False asked, she looked at him surprised.

"...It was the fox's fault!"

"The fox's fault... how did it manage to do that?"

"It uh, it threw me into a river."

This had sent False into a fit of laughter upon hearing this. Even Grian, whose mood had been dampened, cheered up a little hearing her laugh. "I wonder how that works," She said, after calming down.

Grian sighed, "Me too! It startled me and then the next moment, I realised I was in the river... soaked with water."

"Oh no! That's terrible. It's quite a sunny day, so the sun will hopefully dry you off soon."

"Yeah, hopefully..."

They had also found four pumpkins... but those pumpkins had already reached their demise. Somehow they had managed to break them during their search for more. And since squashed pumpkins weren't the best for pumpkin carving, they continued looking for more.

So all in all, after what seemed like hours of having little luck False was ready to tell Grian that maybe they should try another day or at least try another area... when she suddenly heard him shout, whether of glee or hurt was something she didn't exactly know.

And then a yell followed, "False! False, over here!"

False quickly hurried to where he was. "You okay?" She questioned with concern once she reached him.

Grian, who was leaning against a tree, nodded. He was slightly out of breath. "Look!" He gestured to what to be... a pumpkin patch. His face glowed with proudness and pure relief.

Luck had struck, they were in the gold! But instead of gold, it was pumpkins. It was a clear victory for them though.

"Pumpkins!" False exclaimed. "You found them! And to think I was ready to tell you we should come back another day." False herself was also brimming with relief. It would've been a disgrace/disappointment to come back empty-handed.

"I was ready to tell you the same thing, but then I found these and we can't just leave them right now, can we?"

"Nope!"

During all this happiness, Grian had made his way into a hug with False. Feeling Grian hug her, False tensed up before melting into the embrace and hugging him back. When Grian pulled away, a smile was on both of their faces.

"Shall we?" Grian asked with a tilt of his head.

"I don't see why not!" False replied.

In the end, they had managed to collect a good couple of pumpkins, both large and small.

Having collected enough to satisfy them (and after making sure they were in good condition), both Grian and False started making their way back to False's base.

Now if they could only just get all of the pumpkins back in one piece...

-
They had managed to get back most of the pumpkins in one piece - they had only lost two. But either way, it wasn't much of a loss, they had pumpkins now to carve!

They were outside of False's base, where a table had been set up. Some lanterns had been placed on top of it. They were glowing brightly with yellow, red and orange colours intertwined.

False was looking for some candles (she was fairly certain she had some) while Grian was guarding the pumpkins.

"We're going to need some candles, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I think I have some," False replied.

"Oh thank goodness! I forgot to bring some myself- But for a second I thought we would've had to go chase down some bees."

"On second thought-"

"False..." A slight look of horror was on Grian's face.

"I'm joking, I'm joking! Don't worry, I'm sure I have something. Pretty sure, I just have to look for them."

"Well, while you go do that I'll guard the pumpkins."

False fondly shook her head, "Ah yes, can't let anyone steal them!"

"Exactly," Grian nodded. "Just imagine if someone came along and stole them... after all this time."

"Terrible, that would be terrible." Thinking about it, it would be a disaster if the pumpkins did get stolen... Just imagine, after all this time and effort, to lose or find your pumpkins destroyed after just turning your back around for a few minutes or so. An absolute disaster!

Grian let out a hum, his legs swinging as he sat on the bench. He glanced down at the pumpkins that were in the crates, a smile on his face.

He reached down, hovering for a second before he picked one and pulled it on top of the table. The one he picked was a median-sized pumpkin that was in fairly good condition.

Satisfied with it, he picked another one and pulled it on top of the table once again. Around this time False came back, carrying a small box filled with candles and a couple of other things.

"You found them!" Grian exclaimed.

"I did and I even found a couple of coloured ones too!" False smiled. "I see no one has stolen the pumpkins," She added with a light laugh. She placed the box filled with candles and a couple of carving tools on top of the table and took a seat on the opposite side of Grian.

"Yep!" Grian nodded. "Uh, want a specific pumpkin?"

"No, it's okay! Can I pick one from these two to start with?"

Grian gave another nod. False reached towards the nearest one and moved it towards her. After False chose one, Grian pulled the one left closer to him.

"Carved a lot of pumpkins before?" Grian casually asked. He reached into the box and pulled out a knife.

"Not really," False replied. "Probably only a couple of times."

Grian, who was about to cut the top of the pumpkin, placed the knife down and looked at False surprised. "Wait really? False, you're missing out!"

"I've seen Cleo do it quite a good couple of times before if that counts?"

Grian paused for a second, thinking. "Yeah, that probably does," He said at last. "Cleo is pretty decent at carving pumpkins."

Grabbing the knife again, Grian sliced the crown, the top of the pumpkin, off. He placed it down and reached for a spoon.

"We should save the seeds, we could toast them," False commented.

"That's a good idea."

"I'll grab a bowl of water," False said, getting up.

"Where do you keep your bowls?"

"Uh, in the cupboard that's next to the sink."

"Alright, stay there. I'll get one!"

"Don't break anything," False light-heartedly said. She let out a hum, as she sat back down and Grian got up.

"We'll see..."

False wheezed, "Now that's a bit concerning." Shaking his head, Grian chuckled.

It was some minutes later when Grian came back with a wooden bowl that was filled with water. "I'm back!" He announced.

"Welcome back! You found them," False noted, seeing the bowl that he was carrying.

"And guess what? I didn't break anything." Grian placed the bowl in the centre, but slightly towards the side of the table. A few drops of water spilled onto the table. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry," False waved it off.

Grian sat down and grabbed a spoon, before pausing. He peered down at his pumpkin thoughtfully.

"These pumpkins should be honoured," He said and resumed scooping the seeds and some of the insides, before dropping them into the bowl of the water. A couple, naturally, being spilled on top of the table.

"Why?"

"Because they're finally getting a face - an expression!" He paused, before letting out a dramatic sigh. "I can't imagine how they've been without a face this entire time..."

False bit back a smile, "Such a tragedy."

"It is," Grian agreed. Satisfied with the carving of the insides, Grian reached and took a pen that had been recently filled with new ink and he drew an outline of a face on the pumpkin.

False paused, glancing at the expression Grian had drawn. "He's very much surprised, isn't he?"

"Absolutely!"

False let out a hum as drew her design. Reaching for a knife, she carefully started to cut out the outline she drew of the eyes, the nose and mouth.

After cutting it, she placed the remains from where she had cut aside. False grabbed a small towel and wiped off any marks.

She looked up, once she had finished doing so. "How are you going?" She asked.

"Good! What colour of candle are you going to use?"

"Uncoloured," She replied. "At least, for starters, I think."

"That's fair," Grian agreed. "I might use one that is uncoloured as well."

False reached towards the box and picked two uncoloured candles (one from her and one for Grian). "Here you go," She hesitated for a moment before placing it next to him.

"Thanks, False!" Grain chirped.

Their carved pumpkins were almost complete! Only one or two steps were needed now.

Using a match, False lit up the candle. She blew the match out and positioned the candle inside the pumpkin, before placing the top of the pumpkin back. And now, it was complete!

Hearing some giggles, she looked up at Grian who was slowly starting to dissolve into laughter. "It looks really surprised," He murmured while turning the pumpkin so False could see it better. "The more I look at it, the more it looks surprised-"

"It does, it does."

"You finished yours, right?"

False nodded.

"Do show!"

She lightly laughed and turned the pumpkin. While Grian had gone for a rather surprised expression, False had gone for a happy expression.

"They kinda match, y'know! If you think about it, we don't know what type of surprised expression mine is but say it's a good one, it would go well with yours."

"Oh, that's true!"

A silent moment came on both of them before Grian asked something. "You up for another one?" His eyes twinkled with hints of mischief and joy.

"Definitely!"

"Great, it's your turn to pick one now!"

And like that, the rest of the day was spent carving pumpkins.

In the end, they managed to find pumpkins despite everything and had an assortment to display. Plus they also had some seeds to toast once they were done. It had been a good day despite the mishaps and shenanigans that had occurred - a day well spent if you asked them both!

-♡