Pumpkin carving (Backdated to before the event)

[champagnedelis]

Characters: Francisca and YOU
Setting: The Kitchens 
Format: Either
Summary: Since it's October and there's a surplus of pumpkins, Francisca decides to make some Jack-o-lanterns.
Warnings: None 

Francisca sits at one of the large tables in the kitchen, several pumpkins around her, some hollowed, others still waiting to be disemboweled. There is a large bowl of steadily increasing amounts of pumpkin entrails, and several sharp knives to the side ready to carve.
She hums as she works, a small smile playing on her lips as she recalls brighter days when she helped make these lanterns with America when she was visiting.

Comments

[faithstaynight]

Would it be too weird to call the resurfacing memory of something that only happened a little over two months ago "nostalgia"? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, this just feels all too familiar for Jeanne; she had met Francisca this way, hadn't she? Walking into the kitchen and spotting the nation as she putters about. The thought brings a smile to the Servant's face, and she approaches, curiously looking at the gutted pumpkins.

"Ah... so this is what you were talking about earlier, is it?"

[champagnedelis]

Francisca smiled at the now-familiar voice and didn't look up from the pumpkin she was hollowing out. "Oui, these are the Jack-o-lanterns. When they're finished I'd like to space them out around the tower though it will be a nuisance lighting them all each night. Perhaps I should keep them to the dormitories..."

Setting down the gutted pumpkin, she smiled up at Jeanne. "Would you like to try your hand at one, ma belle?"

[faithstaynight]

"I could help you light them, if you truly wish to do that," Jeanne said. It might be a bit of a pain for most people, running up and down the tower every night, but not for her; with her agility and endurance at the levels they were, running from the top to the bottom floors of their prison was nothing at all.

"I would be of much more help in that area than here, I think." She chuckles. "Despite what some may think, I do not think I have enough finesse with a blade that is not my own sword. I fear whatever it is I attempt to create will look quite miserable."

[champagnedelis]

"Oh nonsense, these little things are meant to look miserable usually - I made them with my children often," she chuckled, passing a hollowed pumpkin to Jeanne with a small knife. "You simple draw out a simple face and then cut out the shapes, like so."

She got another pumpkin and demonstrated the process. "It's not about perfection, simply about enjoyment and making the faces a bit creepy."

[faithstaynight]

Jeanne accepts the things handed to her, but merely sets them down on the table in front of her, choosing instead to watch as Francisca works on her own pumpkin.

"Ah, I can see why this is so enjoyable. In recent times, it is less about the meaning behind the carving, but more about the time you spend with others doing this, yes?"

[champagnedelis]

"Indeed," she answered softly, working steadily on the pumpkin. It was all too easy to imagine little Amelia and Madeline on either side of her, clutching at her apron as they watched her make a Jack-o-lantern for their very first Halloween.

[faithstaynight]

Jeanne is a very observant person. She liked to believe she was good at reading people. And there was a certain look others got, a hint of wistfulness in their eyes, whenever they reminisce on something. And she could be wrong, but she sees a bit of that in Francisca's eyes, and that causes her own expression to soften a bit.

"You must have especially fond memories of this time. Am I mistaken?"