AN: I'm so sorry

"Nepeta, what in the everliving *fuck* is this horseshit?"

"What do you mean, Karcat?" Nepeta asked, tilting her head. Karkat motioned vigorously towards the setup before him, face red.

"This! What are you doing with these...these..."

"Pawmpkins?" Nepeta squeaked.

"Don't you- don't you fucking DARE bring cat puns into this!" Karkat wheezed. "What are you doing to them?!"

"Painting them, of course!" Nepeta replied, putting down her paintbrush. She quickly snapped shut the cap on her tube of red paint and clicked open a container of orange, squeezing a small puddle onto a piece of newspaper in front of her. She dipped the tip of a clean paintbrush in it and continued to leave quick, scratchy strokes on the gourd in front of her. Karkat frowned.

"But why? What do you even get out of this?"

"Well..." Nepeta began, taking a thoughtful pause. "It's 10th perigee, right?"

"Of course it is. What, do you think I'm fucking dumb? Do you think I don't keep up with the date? Well, surprise, surprise, fuckcake, here I am, checking my goddamn calen-"

"And I think the alien kids have some sort of...celebration around here!" Nepeta continued, cutting off Karkat's rant. "I was snooping around in their different timelines, I admit, and every 10th perigee, they decorate vegetables and wear the most ridiculous clothes! I don't exactly know what it's for, but...it looks fun, so I thought we could do something similar! I don't understand why this is making you so furrious, to be honest!" She finished with a giggle. The olive-blood turned away from Karkat and continued her painting.

"We're supposed to be trolling them, idiot, not celebrating their oh-so-fucking rich culture!" Karkat said with a frown. "What are you even painting? Ships?! Oh, no, if you're reprinting your shitty shipping wall on fucking fruits, I swear on my bulge, I'll-"

"Not at all, although that is a purrticularly wonderfur idea!" Nepeta giggled, eyes staying focused on the pumpkin. "I'm just painting pictures of things from home, is all. Like..." She averted her gaze from the pumpkin and set down her brush again, accidentally placing the tip in a pool of green paint. "This one has a picture of my lusus!" The rogue explained, turning the pumpkin around to reveal a cartoon of a white cat bearing two mouths.

"Oh."

"And this one is my hive," Nepeta continued, picking up another pumpkin. "This one is Terezi, before she went blind, and this one has a picture of me and Equius playing together in the woods!" She paused and added, "That didn't really happen, though. I just like to make purrtend!"

"Wow. I...ok, that's not as shitty of a thing to do as I expected."

"Oh! And thiiiis is a picture of Pounce and me on 12th perigee, when it snowed a whole lot and we ended up staying bundled up inside, all warm and cozy! And I gave her some gifts and we both wrapped purrsents for all of our friends. You remember, don't you? I got you that really cute crab sweater!"

"Uh...yeah. I remember. That's not exactly a thing I would forget."

"Mhm!" Nepeta smiled and nodded, pushing the pumpkin away and pulling up another. "Oh, oh, and I have this really cool one showing Tavros and Aradia, before..." She paused, as if in deep thought. "Oh, I'm sorry, Karcat! I just can't think about these sorts of things, they make me so terribly sad."

"Yeah, sure. Ok."

Nepeta sighed and put down the small pumpkin. She frowned and looked down towards the floor before suddenly perking up and grinning broadly at Karkat.

"Hey, I know!" she squeaked, squirming up into a cross-legged position. "Why don't we paint pumpkins together?!"

"Paint pumpkins together?!" Karkat said with sudden vigor. "Why the *fuck* would I do that? That's so unbelievably dumb, I just- I can't fucking...fuck!"

"Come ooonnn!" Nepeta whined back, handing a brush to Karkat. "Just try it, it'll be fun!"

"Ugh! You know what? Fine! I'll draw on your shitty fruits, I don't give a flying seedflap about this anymore."

"That's the spirit!"

And then they painted pumpkins. Or something.