"I'll be out all day. You can cover for me again, right, Afonso?"
The ponytailed boy sighed as he watched Arthur pick up his things. "I always do, Arthur," he reminded him, "Even when you're here, you barely attend to any of your Etoile duties."
The Etoile didn't even bother to defend himself. He knew full well that what Afonso said was one hundred percent true...
"I suppose it's a good thing that you won't be the Etoile for very much longer. That pendant of yours should go to someone who actually deserves it," Afonso finished.
Arthur's face fell, and he gripped the tiny, blue teardrop of his pendant. "It's only one day until I have to give this up..."
Afonso nodded. "Indeed it is. Best leave it here, so you don't lose it while you're at the beach," and he gestured to a wooden box, which held Kiku's red pendant.
Arthur gritted his teeth, and shakily removed his Etoile pendant. He felt naked without it, but...Afonso was right. The new Etoile deserved this pendant just as much as he had, on the day that he and Kiku were announced as Astraea Hill's Etoile pair...
"I'll see you later," was all that the Etoile could bring himself to say, as he left Afonso, and his treasured pendant behind...
The sun, the sea...Oh, and Antonio's cute smiling face, of course. Nothing could have made for a more perfect beach day, in Arthur's eyes.
"What do you want to do first?" Arthur offered, as they left the taxi.
"Is that...Is that churro flavoured rock over there?"
Arthur looked over at the sweet shop that Antonio had his eye on...And right in the front window, there was a display of rock sticks, ranging from the standard mint and tutti-frutti flavours, to more unusual ones, such as churro, candyfloss, cookie dough...And even fish and chips.
"That place is known for its rock. Did you want to go get some?" Arthur enquired.
"You bet!" Antonio chirruped, taking Arthur's hand.
And within minutes, the pair were inside the shop, picking up all sorts of outlandish sweets to try. Antonio played it safe, buying churro rock for himself, and some apple rock for Sadik, and the other members of the baking club...While Arthur went for a stick of fish and chips rock...And then ten more, when he ate his first stick, and declared it the best candy ever made...
"Fancy a bite?" Arthur offered, breaking his second stick in two.
Antonio took one sniff, and decided that it wasn't for him. "Uh...No, thanks..." he replied, as politely as possible.
"Why not? Wouldn't you eat it if it was...What is it that you Spaniards eat again? Garlic soup, or perhaps...Jamon serrano flavour?" the Etoile questioned.
"H-hell no! I mean...I like jamon serrano, but I wouldn't want it in a candy!" Antonio retorted.
Arthur shook his head. "Suit yourself," he mumbled, taking a huge bite.
Antonio almost retched at the sight. The stench of fish, coming from that rock was absolutely nauseating. He hoped that Arthur would pop a mint, or at least eat something that didn't stink later, so his mouth wouldn't taste like fish when he kissed him...
The two went down to the beach, in the hopes of relaxing a little, and catching some sun, only to find that it had become completely overrun with families. Every possible space was taken up with beach towels, parasols, and all the usual seaside junk, plus two hundred Susie and John Smiths, Spot the dog, and a bunch of little 'darlings', shrieking and kicking up clouds of sand.
"How about we go do something else for a bit?" Arthur suggested. Somehow, he didn't feel that he'd get to enjoy himself, if he and Antonio couldn't at least get some peace and quiet...
"Sounds good to me," Antonio agreed. The sight of another couple their age—Two girls, being screamed at by two kiddies was really killing his mood...
So the two hit the trashy little seaside gift shops, finding nothing of interest besides even stranger rock flavours, and odd trinkets.
"I bet Kiku would've liked this," Arthur mumbled, checking the price tag of a Hokkaido dog painting.
"What did you say, Arthur?" Antonio cut in, having chosen a carving of an Iberian lynx.
Arthur shook his head. "It was nothing. Are you done in here?"
Antonio nodded. "How about we go and see if the beach is any less busy?"
By midday, the crowd at the beach had thinned considerably, as some of the families appeared to have left...
After going for a swim, and sunbathing (But not for very long, since Arthur's skin apparently could not handle the sun), the pair went for ice cream. Arthur insisted on going to the huge parlour across the road, the one with over two hundred flavours on the menu...And all he ordered was a simple vanilla whippy, while Antonio went for a few scoops of the more unusual flavours. When else was he ever going to get to have Seville orange sorbet, coffee ice cream, and savoury tomato ice cream all in one go?
Sticky ice cream kisses followed. The remaining traces of ice cream mixed in the pair's mouths, forming an unusually sweet flavour. And then the pair went back down to the beach.
Lucky for them that the beach was mostly empty now, and Antonio had thought to bring an extra towel...
Within minutes, their clothes were in piles on the sand, having been torn away as the two shoved their tongues as far into each other's mouths as possible. Arthur made the first move, removing Antonio's shorts with a swift motion. He was all out in the open, exposed, just for him...
Antonio hissed, and his hips bucked as he felt himself stiffen, as if to cling to Arthur's fingers. The blond Brit just teased him, at first, only grazing the tip with his lips as he listened to Antonio whimper, begging for him to just do it already...
And once he'd had enough of teasing him, Arthur went straight for the kill, his cheeks hollowed as he bobbed up and down Antonio.
Awkwardly repositioning himself, to lie flat against Antonio, the blond ravaged his partner's upper body, and then got back to work on his mouth...
When the need to breathe became too great for him to continue, Arthur purred, "You like that?" as he broke away, to look Antonio in the face.
"Keep going!" Kiku begged.
Kiku?! No, it was supposed to be Antonio who was lying beneath him, begging for more...
"Are you...ok?" Antonio enquired. Arthur's blank stare was starting to freak him out...
This could not be happening. Why was Kiku here, and what had he done with Antonio?!
"Antonio?" the Etoile tried, "Where are you?"
Antonio's eyebrows furrowed, "I'm right here, Arthur! What's the matter with you?!"
Kiku's soft brown eyes stared up at Arthur, widened in concern.
"Kiku, you can't keep doing this to me," the blond whimpered, "I love you, and I miss you so much, but I need to move on! I need Antonio right now, not you!"
"Arthur, it's ok, I'm here!" Antonio cried, desperately attempting to reach Arthur.
Arthur bolted, leaping off of Antonio and wrapping himself in a towel. "I'm sorry, Kiku...I'm so sorry..." he mumbled, "Let me go, Kiku...Please..."
I apologise for the quality, this is the first time I have ever written a sex scene X.X. And before you ask about the candy, yes, it's true, fish and chip flavour candy really does exist in the UK. I considered buying some on my recent trip to Weymouth...See y'all next chapter, which should be very soon, since I'm outta college now!
Kitty x
