Elusive’s horn lit up as he carefully used his magic to hold his sewing needle dead still to wipe the sweat from his brow. He dried his hand quickly on a nearby hand rag before taking the needle back into his physical grip and finishing up the last vest he needed to complete his most recent order. With a sigh of relief, the unicorn used the rag to dab his face dry before stepping into the main room of his boutique
The Carousel Boutique had a tendency to get warm during the summer, but with the air conditioning no longer working properly, it was hardly cool enough to work in. As the very thought of continuing like this crossed his mind, it was batted away. Elusive smiled as he saw Apple Buck, now seventeen, searching through his small tool bag.
Were it not for Applejack, one of Elusive’s closest friends, being Apple Buck’s older brother, Elusive doubted he would’ve been fast by any measure to accept help from the young stallion. Knowing the Apple family and their work ethic, he figured Apple Buck would, at the very least, not make things worse.
Though he was sweating more for it, Elusive had his reasons for keeping his torso clothed. Apple Buck, however, was used to working around the farm and had little issue with removing his shirt to keep the heat off a little easier. This was something Elusive couldn’t quite help but notice.
As Apple Buck continued to work with the main unit, Elusive took the time to admire just how well the earth pony had grown into himself. All the work on the farm had definitely paid off for Apple Buck. His back and arms were well-toned, and he was starting to look a deal like his brother. Elusive noticed he may have been looking a little too much when he found Apple Buck looking at him with an eyebrow quirked and a slight smirk.
“Don’t think yer gonna be gettin’ me into any o’ that fancy stuff, now. Ah ain’t got a thing against other ponies wearin’ it. Just ain’t fer me.”
Elusive’s cheeks flushed slightly as his lips formed a slightly guilty smile.
“Well, then I suppose I’ll just have to save that suit idea for later. How’s the air conditioner looking? Do you think you can fix it?”
Apple Buck rolled his eyes, smiling. He took his own rag and dried his hands and face.
“Yeah, Ah reckon it won’t be too much trouble. From what Ah can tell, ya jes’ need a new crystal. Looks like the enchantment on this’un wasn’t all it shoulda been. They cost a good bit, but Ah figure if ya jes reimburse me for that, it’ll be plenty.”
Elusive frowned slightly, crossing his arms.
“Now, you can’t be serious. Surely you want some compensation for your time as well. If not you, I would be paying any other pony a good bit on top of the crystal. You must want something, dear.”
The farm pony chuckled and shrugged.
“Naw, no need makin’ friends pay fer a bit o’ help. Ah just hate that the only place with ‘em is closed today. Ah’d keep one or two around, but it ain’t often enough this is the problem. Ya got anywhere else ya can stay?”
“Oh, quite unfortunately not. It’s not that bad at night, though, so I suppose as long as I can keep cool enough during the day, it shouldn’t be too much trouble. I managed to finish all of my current orders today as well. Not many calls for suits this time of year, you know?”
Elusive paused, his expression seeming somewhat troubled.
“I’m dreadfully sorry if I seem pushy, but it just doesn’t seem right to offer you no compensation at all.”
“Look, Ah mean it. It ain’t no problem at all. ‘Sides, most other ponies’d probably have some way ta get it done today.”
Elusive couldn’t help but smile a little as he stepped closer.
“Fine, if you won’t accept normal payment, then I can at least give this.”
Elusive stood just in front of Apple Buck, leaning in to give the farm pony’s muzzle a small peck; however, as he leaned in, he apparently thought the younger stallion a little too short, as the unicorn’s lips connected not with the earth pony’s muzzle, but his own lips. As the two realized what had just happened, what was intended to be a quick peck turned into a slightly longer, very awkward kiss.
The two only remained frozen for a moment, though, and soon pulled away, both of them with cheeks red from more than just what felt like a slight rise in the temperature around them. They remained silent, simply staring at one another for a moment, neither sure quite what to say.
After what felt like half an hour, the awkward silence was finally broken as Elusive cleared his throat.
“Well, erm, s-sorry about that. It, uh, it wasn’t quite what it was meant to be.”
Apple Buck scratched the back of his head, letting out a nervous chuckle.
“Oh, uh, no worries. Ah understand, kinda. Ah mean, Ah get that ya didn’t mean ta just, ya know…”
“Oh, oh no, no. I mean, it’s not that you’re not a handsome stallion, but--”
“Naw, I get it. Ah’m not even eighteen yet. Ah know ya ain’t interested in me like that. It’s fine.”
The two stallions entered another awkward silence, Elusive scuffing a hoof on the carpet softly before speaking up once more.
“So, we can just ignore that, then?”
The earth pony shrugged, forcing a chuckle.
“Ah don’t even know what yer talkin’ about. Ignore what?”
“Precisely. So, I suppose that’s that, then?”
“Yup. I’ll uh, I’ll just get mah shirt and mah things and head back home.”
“Well, thank you for helping. Have a nice day.”
Apple Buck collected his things and waved to Elusive as he headed out the door.
“You too.”
Elusive waved back before closing the door and walking to his divan, promptly flopping onto it on his back. He heaved a sigh.
“What did I just do?”
He knew the question was rhetorical. He was well aware of just what he’d done. No, the real question was one that just the thought of made his cheeks flush. He tried to answer it, to no avail.
“Why don’t I actually feel bad about it?”
Apple Buck made his way through Ponyville Square, now with his shirt on. As he walked, he tried his best to figure out why he was still thinking about what had happened at the boutique. He’d made it about halfway to the main trail home before he decided he would figure things out faster if he talked it over with somepony.
With that in mind, he started stopped to think about who he could approach about it. He knew his brother was out of the question, as well as Silver Bell. Getting his or Elusive’s brother involved wouldn’t help in any way. He thought to maybe talk to Barb, but then remembered her ‘past’ crush on Elusive. It wasn’t likely that was going to turn out any better.
After trying to think of anyone else, Apple Buck sighed. Scooter wasn’t exactly his idea of a ‘go-to’ friend for things like this, but he was the best choice here, if for no other reason than Scooter didn’t hold any real stake in it, so even if Apple Buck had to come fully clean about it being with Elusive, it wouldn’t be as hard to explain.
The farm pony nodded to himself and turned, making his way to Scooter’s house. As he walked, he tried to figure out how he was going to go about telling his friend about it. As he neared his friend’s house, however, he found a better question being why it was even still on his mind. As he reached the door, he felt a bit better at least knowing what he wanted answered first.
Apple Buck knocked on the door. It didn’t take long before he heard the lock coming undone and Scooter opened the door. Scooter’s initial smile at seeing his friend dropped a little upon seeing Apple Buck’s expression.
“Hey, uh, you okay, Buck?”
“D’ya think Ah could come in fer a bit? Ah kinda need ta talk about somethin’.”
Scooter raised a brow, but stepped aside. Apple Buck stepped in and set his tools down beside the couch before taking a seat himself. Scooter closed and locked the door before jumping and landing on the couch himself.
They both sat there, silent, for a whole of twenty seconds before Scooter sat up a bit more.
“So, what do you need to talk about?”
Apple Buck took a moment, trying to pick his wording well before responding.
“Well, Ah kinda got a bit of a problem. Okay, so not really a problem, but somethin’ happened an’ now Ah can’t stop thinkin’ about it.”
“Ya know, it helps to hear what the ‘something’ is, dude.”
Apple Buck scrunched his muzzle a little, still nervous about how to say what he needed to.
“Okay, well, I, uh, Ah did somethin’ fer a friend. Ah told ‘im all Ah’d need fer payment would be him reimburin’ me for somethin’ Ah need fer the repair Ah’m doin’. He insisted on payin’ me somethin’ fer the actual work, an’ ah said there weren’t much need for it, seein’ as he was a friend an’ all. Well, Ah’m pretty sure he meant somethin’ else when he did it, but, well…”
Scooter sat for a few seconds, waiting as patiently as he could for Apple Buck to continue. When it was clear the earth pony was stalling, he decided to prod him along.
“Well…? What? What happened? Did he somehow slip, pull down your pants, and suck your dick on accident?”
Apple Buck’s cheeks heated up almost instantly.
“Wh-what?! No! What the fuck?”
“Hey, you left me to fill in the blank, so I did. What happened?”
“He just kissed me, okay? Ah ain’t sure exactly what he meant ta do, but he wound up kissin me on the lips.”
Scooter’s eyebrows quirked at that.
“Like, a kiss kiss, or just a ‘crap what the fuck did I just do?’ kiss?”
Apple Buck simply looked at Scooter, staring at him like he’d just grown a third wing. Scooter shrugged.
“What? I’m just asking if it felt like a real kiss or not.”
“But ya ain’t surprised at all that another stallion kissed me?”
Scooter seemed to consider it for a moment, looking Apple Buck over briefly as he did.
“Nah, no really. You’re kinda cute.”
“Scooter!”
“What? You know I swing both ways, dude. Just take the damn compliment.”
Apple Buck groaned and rubbed his temples. He took a deep breath, being careful not to mention said stallion by name.
“Look, Ah just need ta know what Ah should do.”
Scooter shrugged.
“If you like him, go kiss him back. If you don’t? Well, it sounds like it was an accident, so don’t worry about it. Just fix up whatever and let things be.”
Apple Buck looked like he wanted to speak for a moment, but nothing came out. After waiting almost a minute, Scooter gave his friend a suspicious look.
“What’s wrong? Do you like him or not?”
Another moment passed in silence before Apple Buck groaned once more.
“Ah don’t know. Why can’t Ah just be straight like Silver, or Barb? Neither o’ them would hafta worry about somethin’ like this.” He paused before mumbling, “Not like this’d ever be a problem for either of them anyways.”
Scooter’s ears perked up a little.
“What was that?”
“Nothin’, nothin’. Well, thanks fer the talk, but Ah gotta go get the house cleaned up. See ya.”
Before Scooter could even respond, Apple Buck had grabbed his tools and made his way out the door. Deciding it wasn’t too big of a deal, he shrugged it off and turned back to his new game.
As Apple Buck started out once more for his house, he tried to make sense of his thoughts and the ‘advice’ of his friend. If there was one thing Scooter was when it came to this kind of thing, it was blunt. Unfortunately, if there was one thing to make this kind of thing any more complicated, it would be such blunt advice. One thing was for sure, though: Come tomorrow, he just might need some kind of answer.
Back at Carousel Boutique, Elusive finished getting dressed in oddly casual attire for him. Considering both the heat and that he was going to the local pub, however, it wasn’t exactly shocking.
“I sure hope Blitz isn’t in one of his ‘prying moods’.”
The walk to the pub was short, but it gave Elusive enough time to find better phrasing than simply: Hello, Blitz. I just accidentally kissed Applejack’s little brother.
It took Elusive walking through the door to figure out where Rainbow Blitz was, as the pegasus appeared to be waiting on him. No sooner had Elusive walked in than had Rainbow Blitz wrapped around him.
“Heya, Lucy! Finally got time between making dresses and tryin’ out perfume to see me?”
Elusive groaned at the nickname, the rest being more accurate than he cared to admit, even to himself.
“Sure, sure. Would you mind letting me go? As much as I enjoy having you draped over me, I believe it would be easier to talk over a few drinks.”
The sky blue pegasus chuckled and let go of Elusive before taking a seat at the strangely empty bar. Elusive smiled a little and took a seat beside him. Blitz tapped the counter twice and pointed a thumb at his friend. The barkeep nodded and slid two mugs down before pulling down a nozzle and filling both until the heads just peaked over the brims. Rainbow Blitz put down a few bits and turned to Elusive.
“So, what’s got you in such a rush to talk that you called me?”
As Blitz took a sip of his beer, Elusive hesitantly followed suit, grimacing at the taste.
“Besides to remember why I prefer wine?” He sighed. “I may have a bit of a problem. You know that thank you I sometimes give that you hate?”
Blitz flushed slightly and planted his palm to his forehead. “You mean that stupid little kiss on the muzzle bullshit? Yeah, I remember it.”
Elusive couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s reaction, even if the smile went as quickly as it came.
“Well, I sort of did it a while ago and leaned down a bit too far.”
Blitz stopped mid-sip and put his drink down as he looked to the unicorn.
“So, you kissed somepony?”
Elusive groaned himself.
“Okay, yes, I kissed somepony, but it was an accident and I’m not sure if they understand that.”
Blitz seemed to think for a moment before shrugging.
“So, ask her.”
“Him.”
Blitz rolled his eyes.
“Then definitely ask him. If it’s a stallion, then there should be even less problem there. Sure, mares are nice and all, but they can be a bit complicated at times. Stallions? Well, save for the ones like you, we tend to be pretty outright with things like that. I mean, Scoots is like that and he’s not even legal yet… Okay, I know how that sounded, shut up. The point is, if a seventeen year old can buck up and tell you straight if they’re gay for you, then so can this, uh, however old this guy is. I mean, he’s what? Twenty-eight? Thirty-four?”
Elusive felt his cheeks heating up and quickly grabbed his own mug, nearly chugging down half of the glass before wiping his mouth and standing.
“You know what? You’ve got a point. I’m going to go and finish up the last order for the week.”
“Whoa now, you’re lookin’ a little buzzed already. You sure you should be sewing anything right now?”
Elusive did his best to look offended at the question.
“I am just fine, thank you. I’m as sober as when I walked in.”
Rainbow Blitz stared at the unicorn for a moment before shrugging and giving a dismissive wave as he turned back to his drink.
“Whatever, dude. Just don’t poke yourself or anything.”
“I am always careful. Thank you for the advice though.”
Another dismissive wave was all Elusive waited for before stepping out of the pub. Rainbow Blitz took another drink.
“Jeez, what’s got him so keyed up?”
As Elusive walked back to the boutique, he found himself faced with a decision. He knew that if he asked about anything tomorrow, he’d either find that he really had sent the wrong signal, or that he had nothing to worry about. If he didn’t, then maybe, on the chance he did send the wrong signal, Apple Buck would simply forget about it.
After all, it was just a simple, accidental kiss. Right?