Seashells and Butterflies in One's Stomach

The Forneus Sea’s beaches were, to put it bluntly, a constant haven of activity. Ares always felt a bit antsy whenever he did arrive here for various errands and tasks, simply because of the sheer amount of buns present. While there were more succubuns of the envious sort like himself every year, he still felt rather isolated.

Of course, in previous years, he’d always been going to the beach alone for a job. This year, thanks to his new living situation with Aphrodite, he was going to be stepping on quieter beaches. The VIP areas reserved for the elite were places Ares wouldn’t have even considered, considering he hadn’t gotten a lucky break.

Yet, as Aphrodite led him down the boardwalk, their hooves entwined, Ares couldn’t say he minded the change terribly.

It had only been, what, a couple of months since the two littermates had reunited? Aphrodite certainly hadn’t changed from his youth, still being as stubborn as ever, while also seeming to want to reach out to Ares for no reason sometimes.

That, and he was also a pretty bun. Ares couldn’t simply not tack on that Aphrodite was a right bonnie lad. Hell, even that felt like an understatement.

When he was trying to find the right word for that thought, Ares soon bumped into Aphrodite’s back, which brought him out of his reverie. Shaking his head, Ares peered around the other bun at the beach ahead.

Only a handful of buns were in this area, clearly some sort of private area for celebrity sorts. He could even spot a couple of buns in their doll forms, either modeling or doing other activities.

“Well, what do you think, dear?” Aphrodite looked over at Ares, his pink eyes practically sparkling. “It’s a nice little place, don’t you think? Especially since we won’t be crowded upon by everyone else.”

“Nice, yeah…little, no.” Ares’ eyes scanned the beach, before he looked back over at Aphrodite. “Uh…lead the way, I s’pose.”

Aphrodite smiled, gently pulling Ares by the hoof to continue leading him to the beach. As they stepped off the boardwalk, Ares felt the sand between his hooves, noticing just how smooth it seemed to be.

It took a few minutes for the pair to find a spot, mostly because Aphrodite seemed to have an idea of what he wanted and didn’t want to interfere with the other buns’ presence on the beach. Soon, though, the two were putting up an umbrella and towels.

“This spot is one of the better ones, you know,” Aphrodite said, sitting on one of the towels and fishing around in their basket. “Photographers won’t touch these sorts of spots because the shot just isn’t how they would like it…for some reason.”

“Some reason?”

Aphrodite chuckled. “I’m no photographer, dear. I wouldn’t know what they were talking about.” The lust bun pulled out a pair of sunglasses and a strange mirror-looking thing. The latter of the two was opened as he moved to lay down.

For a few moments, Ares watched him, before giving a nod. “Well, I’m going to take a walk now that we got all this set up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Ares paused, before deciding to add, “Not really the layin’ about type. You’d have the wrong bun for that.”

Thankfully, Aphrodite responded with a chuckle. “All right, all right. Did you need some carats to shop on the boardwalk?”

“Nah, I’ll be walkin’ the other direction. Take advantage of the lack of chock-a-block.” Ares tilted his head. “Maybe I can circle back and we can, uh, go window shopping in a while.”

“That sounds wonderful, darling.”

Ares nodded, then moved to begin walking. Even as he walked, he tried to focus on ignoring the butterflies in his stomach at the too-familiar way the supermodel had called him “darling”. Hell, the way Aphrodite had been treating him in these couple of months felt like more than the roommates that they were.

His train of thought was interrupted as his foot kicked something a foot or two ahead of him. Curious, he walked over, taking the object in both hooves.

It was a seashell, a round one that seemed to spiral into itself. Ares couldn’t help but smile a bit as he turned the shell over, thankful that his accidental kick hadn’t scuffed it too much. There was always something that felt different about finding something like this as opposed to buying it on the boardwalk, so he thought.

Opening the pouch he wore, Ares deposited the shell in it, before moving to look for others. It gave him something to focus on other than the awkwardness he felt around Aphrodite.

The little noise of the other beachgoers around him was tuned out in favor of the sound of the waves, bringing with it the occasional new piece for his makeshift collection. The air was crisp, too, the salty scent filling him with a sense of contentment. Most of his other visits to the beaches were filled with urgency, as they were typically for tasks for a few more carats.

Here, in this moment, there was nothing much more than himself and the desire to explore and collect.

Another bun approached him after a few minutes, offering what appeared to be a coin that had washed up in the sea. When Ares moved to offer something from what he’d gathered, they pleasantly said they weren’t collecting, but had noticed him doing so. They offered Ares a wave as they walked back to their friends, and Ares returned the wave with a slight smile.

As he examined the strange coin-like shell, he couldn’t help but agree that it was a worthy find. The pattern resembled a flower, as if it were some unique currency. It felt like Aphrodite would appreciate it most, so Ares took extra care in making sure it was nestled safely in his pouch.

As he neared the edge of the beach, Ares spotted something larger half-buried in the sand, and practically hopped over to take a look. After a bit of digging, he soon held a larger shell that was shaped akin to a phone. He shook out any remaining sand from it, before placing it against his ear.

The sound of the ocean felt like it was emanating from the shell, and Ares had to look over it a second time to make sure he wasn’t just hearing things. Finally, he decided to bring this shell with him as well, although it was large enough that he had to carry it instead.

On the return trip back, Ares gathered another handful of smaller shells, including several that had a screw-like shape that he quite enjoyed. By the time he returned to Aphrodite, it was clear that his pouch was quite full.

Aphrodite blinked, sitting back up and removing his sunglasses. “That appears to be quite the walk, darling.” Setting aside the mirror, he added, “I could almost swear your pouch was empty when you’d left.”

“It was, I just…picked up a few things. A few dozen things.” He wasn’t sure if the number was accurate, but it felt like it. Sitting down on his own towel, Ares began to empty his pouch shell by shell. He could see Aphrodite shifting to sit up properly, even inching closer to him as he showed his collection.

“Remarkable.” Aphrodite grinned. “You certainly have quite the eye for these. Most of them look in good condition, and perhaps we can take some to be made into jewelry.”

“Jewelry?”

“Yes. Not here on the boardwalk, obviously, as most of the vendors have their own stocks to sell, but…” Aphrodite picked up the coin-looking shell, turning it over in his hooves. “I may have a coworker, who knows a friend, who knows someone…some of these could make wonderful pieces with the summer shoots I’ll be having soon.”

Ares paused, unsure how to feel about the statement. “Well, I didn’t exactly have your work in mind with that one.”

“No, no, this one…” Aphrodite’s expression softened as he looked up at Ares. “This one will be more personal. You would have collected more of these if you were interested in them for yourself, wouldn’t you?”

The fact that the lust bun had seen through him so easily made Ares glance away, then down at the shells around him to take inventory. Still, Aphrodite was right: the coin-looking shell was the only one of its kind among the other shells he’d collected.

Ares only looked back at Aphrodite when the other bun took his hoof with one of his own, and their eyes met. He wanted to say something meaningful, but the words simply wouldn’t form in his mouth. All he could think of was the way Aphrodite’s eyes seemed to stare into him, through him, and how the butterflies in his stomach seemed to grow worse.

As if sensing the tension in the air, Aphrodite suddenly backed off, chuckling. “Well, if you’d like, we can take these home and go over your plans for them…they’re all quite lovely.”

All Ares could do was nod and pray that Aphrodite didn’t press him on why he clammed up. He himself wouldn’t have been able to explain why.