Note: So I finally finished up my first request! The request was for Halloween fluff/shenanigans, so this isn’t quite on the mark. I wanted to incorporate some seasonal fun into this, so it’s like a Halloween/Thanksgiving fluff thing. Fluff is decidedly hard for me to write, I’m much more used to angsty stuff. I hope you enjoy!
Eiji walked down a quiet street with Ash, holding his hand as he told Ash about his day. The two had eaten dinner together at their favorite local restaurant, and were now walking home as the sun was setting.
“And I was really close to getting the perfect picture when someone just walked-” Eiji cut himself off feeling Ash’s grip on his hand get a bit tighter.
“Is something wrong, Ash?” Eiji asked, looking at their hands, then looked up at Ash.
Ash seemed a bit surprised that Eiji said something. “Oh, well, no, it’s nothing.”
Eiji stopped walking and frowned. He pulled his hand away.
“You can’t trick me, Aslan. I know you too well these days,” Eiji said, crossing his arms.
Ash sighed. “Eiji, it’s nothing.”
Eiji made a disbelieving noise, and the two began to bicker in the street as Eiji tried to get whatever was bothering Ash out of him.
“Fine!” Ash relented, bringing their bickering to a halt. He looked away, then said, “I just don’t understand why people have pumpkins out at this time of year! I mean, for God’s sake, Halloween ended like two weeks ago!”
Eiji stared at the blonde for a moment with a blank expression, then started snickering.
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Ash grumbled.
“No, Ash, I’m sorry. Um,” he looked around the street to find which doorstep was the offender with the pumpkins out. His eyes eventually settled on a one, decorated with fall decor. Eiji was a bit confused by the decor at first as well, but then realized that an American couple lived in that particular home.
“Now, I know I don’t know much about the holidays you Americans celebrate, but isn’t it almost time for the eating one?” Eiji asked.
“Thanksgiving?” Ash asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Yes! That one. It’s probably a decoration for that holiday. I’m surprised that one bothers you, though! It’s not a jack-o-lantern,” Eiji said, glancing at the small pumpkins on the doorstep again.
“No, that’s a small pumpkin. Typically, when you want to cook with a pumpkin, you’d use one of…” Eiji trailed off, suddenly deep in thought.
“Eiji?” Ash asked, staring at him.
Eiji glanced around the street. It was pretty dark outside by now, and there was no one around. Completely ignoring Ash, he quietly and quickly sneaked towards the house that had the pumpkins out.
“Eiji! What are you doing?” Ash hissed, whisper-yelling.
Eiji made it to the porch, turned around to face Ash, and shushed him. He then grabbed one of the pumpkins. He then ran back to the street, walking ahead at a fast pace.
“Why did you do that?” Ash whisper-yelled as he got close.
“Because I got an idea!” Eiji responded, keeping Ash’s volume.
“So you stole a pumpkin?”
“They had so many! They won’t even notice if one is gone!”
“Go put it back! We don’t need it!”
“What could you possibly need it for?”
Eiji looked at him. “I am breaking your fear of pumpkins tonight.”
Ash stared at the small pumpkin that was now sitting on their table in their apartment. It was like he was having a staring contest with it.
He had no idea what Eiji was planning, but he sure was busy. Ash couldn’t see Eiji, but he heard him making a fair amount of noise in the kitchen.
“Okay! Ash, come here with the pumpkin,” Eiji finally called.
Ash sighed and very reluctantly grabbed the small pumpkin off of the table. When he got into the kitchen, he practically threw the small orange gourd on the counter.
“Don’t abuse the pumpkin, Ash! We need it,” Eiji said.
Ash rolled his eyes. “For what?”
Eiji showed Ash his phone screen. Ash looked at it, then saw a recipe for a pumpkin pie pulled up.
“We’re going to make a pumpkin pie!”
Ash stared at the phone, then at Eiji. With an unimpressed voice, he asked, “Really?”
Eiji punched his arm gently, not enough to cause any pain. “Yes, really! This is a cooking pumpkin, and it’s almost the American eating holiday.”
“Thanksgiving,” Ash supplied,
“Yes, Thanksgiving. I read online when we were in New York that pumpkin pie is popular for that holiday.”
“It is,” Ash said, thinking about the few Thanksgivings he had celebrated. Ash didn’t really celebrate holidays often, especially ones like Thanksgiving. That said, any time he did celebrate it, he would eat some of the pie.
“So we’re going to make a pumpkin pie together. Hopefully you’ll get more comfortable around pumpkins that way.”
Ash couldn’t help but start to laugh. Eiji’s confused expression made him laugh harder. He felt so lucky in that moment to have someone care about him this much. Honestly, who else would care so much about Ash overcoming his bizarre fear?
Once Ash started laughing, he hugged Eiji. “God, what did I do to deserve you?”
Eiji blushed, not expecting the interaction at all. Ash pulled away and smiled at how much Eiji was blushing.
“You look cute when you blush.”
“I’m not blushing!” Eiji said, pivoting around to get the ingredients out.
The two spent around two hours baking the pie. The recipe said it should only take one hour to bake, but Ash was basically a beginner in the kitchen, so Eiji made sure to go slowly to teach him. By the time they were finished, they were coated in flour and some of the other ingredients.
Eiji looked at their aprons (which he forced Ash to wear) and started laughing. “The recipe didn’t even call for that much flour, I don’t really know how this happened.”
Ash laughed along with Eiji. Their laughter was cut short by the oven’s timer going off.
“Finally!” Ash said, watching Eiji as he put oven mitts on. Eiji removed the pie and sat it on their stove top, looking at it skeptically.
“I hope it tastes good, I’ve never made a pumpkin pie before,” Eiji said, still inspecting the pie.
“I wouldn’t have known this was your first one. The way you were bossing me around made you look like you were an expert,” Ash said in a teasing tone.
Eiji gently hit Ash on the arm again.
“If you’re so worried about the taste, let’s just go ahead and eat it,” Ash said.
“No, Ash! We have to let it cool first.”
Ash rolled his eyes. “That sounds like a made up rule that a mom tells their kids.”
“It’s not a made up rule,” Eiji said, setting a timer on his phone. “If we cut into it now, the filling will get messed up. We have to let it cool for thirty minutes at room temperature, then we put it in the fridge for a few hours.”
“A few hours?” Ash asked incredulously. “What’s the point of baking?”
Eiji shut him up with a kiss. Ash was surprised at first, but then quickly reciprocated, cupping Eiji’s face.
Eiji pulled away, smiling. He disentangled himself from Ash (much to Ash’s displeasure), and got settled on the couch.
“We can watch a movie to pass the time,” Eiji called, motioning for Ash to come sit with him.
Ash glanced at the time on his phone, noting how late it was. He walked over and sat on the couch.
“You’re going to fall asleep,” Ash said as Eiji pulled up a random movie.
He did, in fact, fall asleep. Ash smiled as he watched the dark-haired boy peacefully inhale and exhale, resting on his chest with his eyes closed. He had his arm draped over Ash’s torso, as if he were giving him a hug. Ash had put the pie in the fridge when Eiji’s timer went off, and had been waiting for it to finish cooling.
It had been about two hours since then, so enough time had probably passed, right? He honestly had no idea. Eiji had made fun of Ash in the past for his lack of cooking and baking knowledge. How can you take apart a gun blindfolded, but not know how to make a grilled cheese?
Ash really wanted to try to pie tonight, but he decided they should probably go to bed. Ash started shifting, trying not to disturb Eiji too much.
Eiji tightened his grip on Ash when he started moving.
You are making this so ridiculously hard, Ash thought to himself. He finally resigned himself to gently pulling Eiji from sleep.
“Eiji? Wake up,” he said quietly.
Eiji’s eyes fluttered open for a moment, but he ultimately fell back asleep. Ash smiled, deciding to just carry the boy to their room.
Ash got up in a swift, fluid motion so that he would minimize disturbing Eiji. He then scooped him up into his arms, bridal style, and walked to the room. His heart all but melted when Eiji wrapped his arms around Ash’s neck in his sleep.
“So clingy tonight,” Ash said quietly as he put Eiji in bed. He crawled in quietly beside him, finding himself in a deep, peaceful sleep very quickly.
He woke up to Eiji nudging him.
“It’s time to get up, Ash!”
Ash blinked hard, trying to get the tiredness to leave his eyes. He then sat up.
Eiji smiled. “Finally. We didn’t try the pie last night.”
“That’s because someone fell asleep,” Ash said, rubbing his eyes.
“Well, that someone is awake now. Let’s eat some now.”
“It’s too early,” Ash said, looking at the time.
“Nonsense. Don’t Americans eat sugary things for breakfast anyway?” Eiji asked playfully.
Ash sighed as he was pulled out of bed by an overeager Eiji. The two walked into the kitchen, and Ash found a piece of pie waiting for him on the counter. He grabbed the plate, taking it to their table, and finally sat down to try a bite.
Eiji watched him eat closely, sitting down across from him.
“It’s good,” Ash said, smiling. It reminded him of one of the Thanksgivings he had celebrated as a child with his older brother.
They sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying their pies at an absurdly early hour.
“How about your fear of pumpkins? Is it better?” Eiji asked.
Ash thought for a moment, picturing a pumpkin. The thought of a jack-o-lantern still freaked him out. He still pretty much knew he hated Halloween. At the same time, though, he thought about how much fun they had last night baking the pie.
“Well, they still freak me out, but I have a new memory to associate with them now,” Ash said, watching Eiji smile. “Now, when I think of pumpkins, I’ll think of the time that my crazy boyfriend sneaked onto an innocent American couples’ porch and stole one of their pumpkins.”
