Chapter Text
Asami loved autumn. The leaves were changing - her favorite color, red, dominating over the other yellow and orange hues. The weather was pleasant, never too hot, and only truly chilly after the sun had gone down, when she could simply curl up in front of the fireplace with her sketchbook.
She smiled as she entered the pumpkin patch, sipping the last bit of hot chocolate contentedly from her to-go cup before tossing it in a can near the entrance. She skipped the first few rows of tiny pumpkins and gourds, heading to the rows further back displaying the large carving pumpkins. Asami was determined to find the perfect specimen. This year's would be her best jack-o-lantern yet.
She was an engineer, after all. Years of studying and hands-on practice with anything containing an engine had prepared her for this.
She was going to carve the shit out of a pumpkin.
---
Korra hated autumn. Her favorite color, blue, was nowhere to be seen amongst the thousands of fallen leaves clogging up the streets and sidewalks. It was still too hot for her Southern blood.
To make things worse, she was being dragged by her supposed best friends, Mako and Bolin, to a pumpkin patch. They were determined to make her participate in this weird Republic City tradition of cutting faces out of big orange vegetables.
Are pumpkins vegetables? Korra shook the thought away, grumbling as she followed her friends through rows and rows of the maybe-vegetables.
She already couldn't wait to get this carving shit over with.
---
Asami carefully inspected dozens of pumpkins, trying to tune out the two rather loud guys and complaining girl that were in the next row over. The specimen needed to be perfect in every way; large without being gigantic - or else just gutting it would take far too long - round, no moldy spots or too many wrinkles.
She picked up a possible contender, though she frowned when the bottom sunk in against her fingers. "Too close to spoiling," she muttered, moving on.
"Guys, seriously, just pick one. What does it matter?" Asami's eyebrow twitched at the girl's words. She ignored the shorter guy's response, focusing back on the assortment of pumpkins in front of her. She ruled out another dozen, at least, for various reasons. Mold, broken or dried out stems, not flat enough on the bottom to stand up. She grumbled under her breath, moving to the next row to try her luck there.
---
Korra had stopped listening to Bolin's pumpkin speech a while ago. She inched slowly away from the brothers, idly wondering how long it would take them to notice her absence. Even the usually-boring Mako ("Stoic. Serious. Not boring," he would defend) was absorbed in finding the perfect pumpkin.
She shoved her hands in her pockets, wandering down the row of maybe-vegetables, still wondering what the deal was. If you were going to cut it open and carve the hell out of it, what did it matter what it looked like to begin with?
"Not heavy enough. Argh! Huge mold spot." Korra came to a halt as a grumbling voice caught her attention, eyes going wide when she found the source. The most gorgeous woman she had ever laid eyes on -
- was agonizing over the perfect pumpkin, just like her idiot friends.
---
"You're really into this pumpkin thing."
Asami looked up at the voice, her breath catching at the sight of absolutely beautiful blue eyes. She fought the urge to blush, smirking up at who she recognized as the complaining girl from a few minutes ago. "You're not, I take it. Just pick one? Blasphemy."
Blue-Eyed Pumpkin Hater reached up to scratch the back of her neck, dark cheeks lighting up a bit with a blush. "You heard that, huh?"
"Hard to miss. You and your friends are pretty loud," the engineer replied, standing up and realizing how much taller she was than Blue Eyes. "I'm Asami."
"Asami," the shorter girl said quietly, as if testing out how it rolled off her tongue. Asami couldn't stop her blush, this time, liking very much how it sounded. "Pretty name for a pretty girl," Pumpkin Hater continued before she sputtered, cheeks glowing, as if it had slipped out before her brain could catch up.
This idiot is pretty damn cute, the engineer couldn't help but think.
"Thanks," she said out loud, smirk fading into a smile. "Can I get your name or should I just keep thinking of you as Pumpkin Hater?"
The girl's face scrunched up adorably at 'Pumpkin Hater.' "It's not that I hate them, I just don't get why it has to be so perfect," she mumbled. "Um, Korra, I mean. My name's Korra."
---
Far-too-serious-about-pumpkins Asami held her hand out; Korra shook it gently with her own, feeling a jolt of electricity shoot down her arm at the feeling of Asami's soft yet callused skin.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Korra. Even if you don't understand the importance of a perfect pumpkin." She couldn't stop herself from grinning like an idiot when the taller girl winked at her.
"Well, maybe you could explain it to me," Korra suggested slyly, mentally patting herself on the back for not acting like a bumbling, blushing idiot for once. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bolin pouting, having finally noticed she'd disappeared mid-speech. Mako - wonderful, amazing Mako - grabbed his younger brother's arm to stop him from coming over.
Asami grinned, crouching down next to one of the pumpkins. Somehow, listening to the other girl explain about a green stem meaning a freshly harvested pumpkin or how a good one should feel heavier than it looks was much more enjoyable than hearing it from Bolin.
As Asami explained, they meandered through the orange rows, each searching for their perfect carving pumpkin.
---
"Ooh, what about that one?" Korra's eyes lit up as she crouched down next to a large, round pumpkin. Asami giggled, loving how enthusiastic she was all of the sudden.
She joined Korra on the ground, looking her choice over with a critical eye. She flipped it over, pretending not to notice Korra's blush as she grabbed a dark-skinned hand. "You have to press down here and make sure it's firm," the engineer explained, guiding Korra's fingertips to the orange surface. "If it gives too easily, it's not fresh enough and will rot way too soon."
"So this one's good then?" the blue-eyed girl asked. She grinned at Asami's nod. "Looks like you found your pumpkin, then."
"Nah, you spotted it. Looks like you found yours." Korra looked like she was going to argue, so Asami tossed it gently to her, forcing the shorter girl to cradle it carefully in her (very, very toned) arms. "C'mon, now we go find mine."
---
It took another ten minutes to find Asami's pumpkin. Korra sort of wished it had taken a lot longer; she didn't want to part ways with her gorgeous new friend yet. She could see Mako and Bolin toting their own pumpkins towards the small gift shop to check out, though, which meant it was time to go.
"Hey Asami?"
"Hrm?"
"You can say no but I was wondering if you wanted to come to this stupid pumpkin carving thing we're having tonight. It's just the boys and Opal, Bolin's girlfriend, and me so it's not really a party or anything but there'll be booze and food and I've never actually carved one of these things so I figured you could maybe show me how and - " Oh my Raava you idiot shut up stop talking, you're rambling, you dumbass. " - it'd be kind of funny to make Mako the fifth wheel because he's so awkward - " Shut up Korra you dumb little shit stop talking " - I mean not that he'd be a fifth wheel because that would imply we were gonna be there together like a date so I guess more like we would all three be wheels? Okay so maybe the wheel analogy doesn't really work here - " Korra if you don't shut up right now I swear you're getting punched in the face by your own fist.
Korra's jaw snapped shut as she finally listened to...herself.
"I mean. Um. Party?"
Asami nodded, holding a hand over her mouth to stop from giggling. "Give me your phone," she said through a few snickers that managed to escape.
Korra handed her phone over, watching in silence as the taller girl put her number in. She remained silent, not sure if the word vomit would start again if she tried to speak. She took her phone back, shoving it back in her pocket while awkwardly fumbling with her pumpkin in a one-armed grip.
"Text me the time and the address and I'll be there," Asami said, walking towards the gift shop. "And Korra?" she called over her shoulder. At Korra's inquisitive eyebrow, she added, "I'd love to make Mako be the fifth wheel."
Korra stood there in stunned silence, a dumb grin creeping up on her face, until long after the green-eyed beauty had disappeared to make her purchase. The brothers finally came back to retrieve her, having to practically drag her to the gift shop to pay.
Maybe autumn wasn't such a dumb season, after all.
---
Asami toted her pumpkin to the parking lot, smiling as she secured it in her trunk.
Autumn was definitely her favorite season.