"Cushy!"
After returning from Sect HQ, Ares spent the day leisurely and relaxed without lifting a finger. Night came and went and now it was morning, sunlight peeking through the curtain and illuminating Ares' and Enyo's tangled bodies underneath the sheets. Bellona and Sandy were having a sleepover at Sandy's Xasca home, the one she prettied up in Oasis and had Ares bring back for her, so it was just Ares and Enyo in the bedroom right now. Blo Blo and Sandy were going on a film binge and it seemed like the former was developing a passing interest in botany to some extent. It's not like Bellona was going to become a gardener or a florist herself but she was curious enough about arranging, the meaning behind flowers, and their various oddities to find Sandy's rants about the subject worth subjecting herself to. As for Sandy, plenty of Bellona's films had detailed sets and various scenes really captivated her. Of course she was more fascinated by the potted plants and less so the carefully arranged furniture but the world of set design seemed fun as she pieced together why certain decisions were made. Colour matching, foreboding symbolism and subtle hinting at future plot lines, etc... She was more into discussing why scenes were made the way they were rather than the film plot itself but Bellona had seen these films plenty of times herself and wasn't bothered by the off-centre discussion. Bellona told Sandy about the Starlight clan up in Vraizon who were responsible for most of these films' productions and that they spared no effort in attention to detail due to their artsy nature. Florists were highly regarded in multiple industries and were respected as artists in their own right as they provided a visual masterpiece if their talent was sufficient and who wouldn't want the perfect backdrop to their film, orchestral performance, or architectural magnum opus? If Sandy was into that sort of thing she should definitely take a trip over to the Starlights' planet down the line. Ares would probably head there as he had a promise of sorts to settle with Ya Ye, the summer colours' blade. Back when the four seasons were making a mess of the international, Ya Ye expressed his interest in duelling with Ares due to beauty of his magic. Eagerton also expressed his own interest in Ares' magic, alongside Margaret, so it seemed as though their entire clan would feel inspired by the golden, transcendental nature of it. Gold was extremely rare as far as magic went, and Ares' control over it nowadays was especially magnificent, so it wasn't too surprising the starlights would take to Ares like a moth to a flame.
Sidetrack aside, 'cushy'. While Enyo and Ares were cuddling, Ares suddenly, for seemingly no reason at all, threw this word out there and made no effort to explain himself. "Cushy?" Enyo thought maybe he was referring to her soft skin being comfortable to hold. She was right but that wasn't what Ares was talking about in this particular instance.
Ares shook his head. "Kya, I've given her a nickname over in the pagoda." Normally, bringing up another woman in beds like this would not be the time or place but Enyo was... Enyo... So naturally she didn't care in the slightest. Rather, she was hook line and sinker levels of taking Ares' bait and asking the question she knew she shouldn't if she didn't want to wind up slapping her own forehead. It's not like Ares was good at naming things! Sure Sandy took on her name with pride but it was still a dumb pun at the end of the day!
Sigh
Unable to figure out what Ares' game was... "Alright, go on, hit me with it. Why 'cushy'?"
Seeing his wife's resignation, Ares smirked and explained. "Simple, the 'cu' in 'cushy' sounds like 'coo'. You know, the noise a bird makes!"
"Ah, and then 'shy' because she's shy?"
"Yep, and her feathers make her cushy."
Enyo shook her head side to side and gave up but not before at least throwing a comment out there regarding this silly nickname. "'Shy' isn't even pronounced that way when you say the word 'cushy'. Isn't this a bit of a stretch?"
Tilting his head, Ares looked confused. "No?" He was a bit of a simpleton so even if the name had issues in practice he was still determined to go through with it! He liked the theory so he was barging on regardless of any practical obstacles!... This was why Enyo gave up trying to stop him, he could be very headstrong about random nonsense like this. She thought it was hypocritical of Ares to call the sect HQ lot crazy and then act like a true blood revenant but oh well, he was loveable goofball at times in his own right. He meant well.
"And what about Kya? What does she think of the name?" It was only natural to ask what the person in question thought.
"Hm, hard to tell but I think she enjoyed being teased more than anything? She turned her head down and away from me, blushed, and tried to hide a small smile. I recognise the nickname is dumb but she liked it anyway so it's probably more about the playful nature of our conversation she liked? She's starved for human communication but also somewhat socially inept so she gets embarrassed quickly over such things. She was rambling on and teaching my clone about technology for the last few days and when my clone joked about how chatty she was she stopped speaking for a few hours once the realisation set in."
"Hmph, don't be mean to the cute little birdy."
"I'm not! I'm not! Actually, our talks are useful. As it turns out, when my clone learns something, I can steal that information for myself. It's like cheating in an exam by having the answers all laid out in front of me. Kya was teaching my clone how not to be a tech neanderthal and that information ahs been passed on to me so I'm a lot more caught up on modern conveniences and that kind of way of life. Sure it's minor, and I could learn it anyway, but this does open up interesting possibilities about using my clone to learn things for me that are more complicated or time consuming. Manipulating annihilation magic, for example, is quite a hassle without the Backfire Bindings. I have a lot of room for improvement but the cost of doing business is that investing in that particular ability is a massive time sink. I can't ask anyone else to do it, destruction is unique to me obviously, but the clone is different. I can maybe have it experiment with various stuff I get stuck on while I diver my attention to more readily available and accessible techniques. I still haven't really gotten down to business with One With The Universe yet and that's undoubtedly going to be extremely important going forward so I would like to prioritise that. Regardless, this is a helpful development. When the clone is done having fun with Kya, I'll have it get to work for me. I effectively have two brains working at once!
"Pft, ok, well at least now you've caught up to the rest of humanity's operating speed... I say that but you're probably just going to make mistakes twice as fast... Still, if that brain of yours can come up with ideas like that twice as fast then maybe it's a good thing after all." Enyo was mostly playfully teasing Ares but she was dead serious about his bedroom invention being a work of genius. The one that allowed him to be in multiple places at once using nothingness; it was a fan favourite, Enyo being the number one fan obviously. "Speaking of, Bea came up with a name for it but you're still the inventor so she wanted to run it by you first and get your approval."
Ares shrugged, leant over his shoulder, and picked up a mug off the bedside cabinet with some warm tea in it. He took a sip and then spoke. "I'm really not too fussed about the name, I'm content with just being credited as the creator because I think it's pretty neat. Besides, you've seen my naming prowess first hand." 'Cushy' flashed through both Ares' and Enyo's brain and the latter seemed to momentarily shudder at the prospect of letting Ares name something like this. Whatever he came up with would be a dumb mood killer pun so it was maybe for the best to take this particular responsibility away from him and give it to someone more suitable after all. Actually, his first and only idea was 'one man army' but he didn't even suggest it because he thought it was too plain, long, and not thematically strong enough. It gave the right imagery, so to speak, but it was definitely a name that was more appealing to men than women and this was a product that was supposed to be marketed towards both.
"She wants to call it 'euphoria'." Enyo took the mug off Ares and finished the tea while he nodded, satisfied with the suggestion.
"Yeah, that's suitably erotic. The name's not overselling it either, it really feels that good enjoying all of you at once..." Ares mumbled that last part as his mind drifted. 'Euphoria', as it was now called, was something that really amped up the pleasure for everyone involved, man or woman. There was technically no limit to the number of times it could be used either so people with multiple partners, like Ares, could get even more use out of it. Plus there was an idea floating around about increasing the range of functionality, allowing partners to engage in love making cross country if development planned out. This was a tool that would revolutionise a lot of people's sex lives and bring a whole new dimension to long-distance relationships too so giving it a corny name was a no go. Maybe 'euphoria' was a bit on the nose but it was a safe option at least and nothing anyone would feel any kind of aversion to. Men were dumb idiots and probably wouldn't give a crap about the name because what the product offered was way more important whereas women would gravitate towards the sultry branding and 'prestige' of a fancy, evocative word. Of course there were also horny rabbits like Enyo who also didn't give a damn about the name but in terms of sales tactics this was probably the best way to go about generating a buzz around the product and creating hype for it in various circles. Even if started off as the thing noble women on the Federation gossiped about behind closed doors it was cheap enough that once the fad spread everyone could get involved with. The best part, for Ares at least, was that this 'euphoria' was far easier to create than Shock Beads were. It was literally just basic nothingness magic. Of course he had to sever the nothingness connection between each package of gel individually, lest some random man ends up experiencing the insides of another person's wife in some unlucky mishap thanks to crossed wires, but otherwise it was simple as spawning in a blob of nothingness and smoothing it out to be easily applicable. Bea did most of the work, as in putting those nothingness blobs into something more marketable on her shelves, so Ares' time wasn't consumed nearly as much compared to Bead making.
"Beas going to be doing some test runs of the first version of the product and take onboard various suggestions and feedback. I doubt there'll be much criticism but people might want adjustments that we can turn into variations of the original product." Enyo's voice trailed off as she imagined some of her own preferences on the matter. She got back on track quickly enough though. "Anyway, there should be enough data to give a rough idea of the interest levels by the time we get back from Akarala so expect business at Beas to start ramping up around then. It won't take word for something as unique as 'euphoria' to spread so you'll have to make a fair bit when the time comes."
"Not a problem." With a nod and a thumbs up, that matter was sorted and could be shelved for now. Ares liked these morning conversations with Enyo. She wasn't his secretary or anything but he felt it was much easier to organise his thoughts and future plans when he discussed it with someone as level headed and mature as her. She had a way of simplifying, like creating a step by step roadmap, for everything he wanted to do that was really appreciable as it made his life considerably easier. He had a lot on his plate so finding out parts of it were already taken care of, and other parts of it weren't going to be a struggle as the path to completion and / or success was laid out neatly, was something he was grateful for. Plus Enyo really was soft and embracing her was like lying on scented, fluffy pillows. Morning often meant the start of a busy work day for Ares doing sect master stuff, running around town helping the locals, cultivating his ass off, or discovering more about destruction, but it was very tolerable if he got to chat with Enyo like this. His head was always clear leaving the room... Though admittedly doing so could be tricky at times if Enyo wrapped her limbs around him and refused to let him leave... "Ha..." Ares' attention seemed elsewhere but he laughed to himself and then looked at Enyo. "Did you know it's supposed to be pronounced 'jif', not 'gif'?" Apparently Kya was teaching Ares all sorts of things.
"What on earth are you talking about?" Of course Enyo was completely clueless as she hadn't studied the way of the internet herself.
"... It's complicated. Also, don't worry, the creator has no idea what he's talking about either..." Ares then proceeded to spend the rest of the morning explaining what 'gifs' were, and why they were great for sharing clips of cute animals, as he served up a pleasant breakfast. The two kept chatting for a while until eventually Ares heard a knock at the front door and went to go answer it... Though the knocking did seem a bit unusual? it wasn't a constant, rhythmic knock. Rather, it was an intermittent, heavy thud. About every two seconds there would be a decently loud bang so Ares was curious to see who was responsible for this strange method of grabbing attention. He opened the door... And nobody was there! This had happened before so he looked down and, sure enough, there stood Nibbler! He did a little dance, lifting his two right paws, lowering them, and then repeating with the left side. This cycle occurred a few times as Nibbler gave a bark and a happy greeting. It seemed he was in a good mood now that he finally found Ares. He made note of Ares' house's location earlier when he first arrived here, and got the zoomies after nibbling Blo Blo, but Ares had moved after returning so he had to come and search high and low for him. Ares knew he wanted to see Hunter's soul again so he took it out and let Nibbler bask in the glow. Ares also changed the elevator inside the mountain to allow Nibbler up whenever he wanted without needing to get permission from Rud as that was how he wriggled his way up here this time. While Ares inspected the runes he personally set up he noticed that the defensive 'keep Tai out' rune had been triggered at some point and shoved him clean off the mountain. Ares' only wish was to have seen that pervert's face as he was sent careening into the sky nut, alas, simply knowing it happened was satisfactory enough. Rud must have caught up to Tai, who was lying broken on the floor after his failed attempt at infiltrating the sect master's lodging, and thrown him back in maximum security. Ares was somewhat curious how Tai got out but, to be honest, the less he saw of Tai the better. He didn't want to ask him because that entailed actually meeting the idiot and that was not something he wanted to do. He'd rather invest in better security measures, and give Rud money to further lockdown the prison cell, than learn how he escaped in the first place.
Ares' business today was light, and mostly took place outside the sect, so he wasn't in any rush nor did he have a lot to think about. There was the matter of Brainiac's brain he got from the quarry back in Xasca, he still needed to figure out what to do with that thing as it had just been floating around inside his Primordial Blade for ages now, but he felt like it wasn't really usable right now and he would have to keep it for a little while longer. The more Kya taught him about tech, the more he wanted to shove this guy's brain inside a supercomputer. That did run the risk of it going rogue and betraying him but the benefits outweighed the risks and he could just limit the brain's access to anything important. Ares would have to set up a network of tech infrastructure before such a thing was ever relevant, so brainiac's brain was going to keep floating around until Ares left the confines of the lower domains, but it was good to remember he had it in his back pocket. The level of automation he could get in this sect if he used the brain appropriately made it worth keeping. That aside, Ares also wanted to finish creating a new type of Bead, or 'rock' as they were marketed, called the 'Hop Rock'. Onno would be overjoyed to learn about this new product as it was a brilliant opportunity to rake in cash what with how popular this line of item had been in the past. Put simply, the Hop Rock would open a portal at the location it was thrown. Throw a second Hop Rock and now you have two portals you can move between freely. This would be extremely useful for moving heavy stuff, crossing large gaps, escaping pursuers, hit and run tactics, etc... It was a bit tricker to use than other rock types, it required set up and two beads instead of one, but the possibilities were greater as a result and thus worth it. Onno would probably sell the beads in pairs and for a fair price but Ares still had to work out a few more kinks before it was fully ready to by sold to the masses. Hop Rocks and Brainiac's brain, those were the two things Ares distracted himself with until he finally arrived at Bahru's place. He said he wanted to get better at making and mixing drinks so he was going to be visiting Bless up fairly often until it was time to leave for Akarala. Once he was done here he'd also head to Shu's for his pastry lessons too as there was no way he could skip them after asking for private tutoring. Shu might actually come to the sect personally and drag him to her shop if he tried to run away now at this stage.
A few hours of valuable lessons later and Ares was headed back to the sect with a gift or two for Sandy. Though it wouldn't be as spectacular as Bahru's own creation, Ares had made her some ginger ale. The same was true of Shu's pastries as he made her a gravy pie to go with it. There was a third gift, however, and this one came from a place that had nothing to do with food! Ares had reminded himself a while ago that he needed to get Sandy a ring just like he did for Bellona and Enyo. He only had enough fingers to wear rings of his own for the wives but he could still get Sandy something at the very least. It wasn't particularly eye catching but it did follow the same heart-piece style as the others so it wasn't lacking comparatively. The colour was a dusty yellow, similar to the sands of her home country, and the small piece of Ares' heart, turned into a gem by Gemma's magic, was contained neatly within a small, but sturdy, glass cover. As with the other rings Ares had given out, Sandy could place her hand on the glass and feel both a warmth and Ares' heartbeat in real time. Conceptually it was a neat idea and Ares didn't want to start changing things up so he just stuck with the same old same old and would continue to do so for everyone who came after. He did briefly consider wearing a ring for Sandy temporarily but that was probably ultimately more disrespectful in the long run when he eventually had to remove it. Sandy being the only concubine to have had a ring on Ares's finger would feel wrong, the others might not appreciate being left out, and she wouldn't be happy to see it removed eventually either. No good would come from it in the long term so, though Ares wanted to, he refrained... He also decided not to jokingly suggest wearing rings on his toes lest someone actually take it seriously..
Anyway, his business was mostly done for the day and he was almost ready to take a trip to Xasca. He wouldn't leave immediately, he wanted to rest for a bit after his long stint away, but once the neon weaponry was developed by Dabble, once the parasite Mini Pillie was created by Allie, once he'd visited the Li and Nick clans to strike a deal, and once he decided who was tagging along to Akarala... It would be time to leave! It sounded like there was still al lot on his plate but most of it could be done in a single day so long as he didn't waste any time unnecessarily. Clean up of extra tasks was nearly done and dusted so soon it would be time to head to a new region and do some exploring!