Archive of Our Own ^beta

The sound of the sea was pleasant to the ear, blending with the silence and quiet murmur of people in the background, the occasional laughter of children, and the loud, sometimes even hilarious slogans of vendors tempting people with cool drinks and snacks. The shade from the umbrella provided some relief from the intense heat and a chance to gently move one’s feet in the warm sand without fear of getting burned.

Horus smiled slightly, lying with one arm behind his head while the other held a glass more than half full of light beer, still cool in his hand. He listened to the sounds around him, noticing that his head was finally empty and absorbing the atmosphere of light relaxation.

“Hey, Horus!” A cheerful male voice nearby made the younger god open his eyes and smile slightly, noticing that Thoth was leaning over, peeking under the umbrella. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Everyone needs to relax sometimes. Is that why you’re here?”

“Of course! It was Maat’s idea, because she just wanted me to...” He suddenly blushed deeply, glancing away before coughing into his fist and crouching down to look at Horus. “Anyway, never mind. Do you need... help?”

Horus raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled at the younger man, and then followed his gaze. Oh yeah, right.

Perhaps the fact that he was lying almost completely covered with sand, as if it were a blanket, couldn’t exactly be called... normal? But in fairness, it was worth noting that his shoulders, arms, and part of his legs were generally free, if you didn’t count the thin layer of sand.

Horus laughed softly, shrugging his shoulders and causing the sand on top of him to shift slightly.

“Oh, it’s fine. My husband is just feeling clingy and affectionate today.”

“Ah...” Thoth raised his eyebrows skeptically, propping his head up with his hand. “So... Seth is with you too?”

When the golden grains of sand began to shift more actively on his chest, Horus laughed quietly again, though his gaze noticeably softened.

“Of course he’s with me! I wouldn’t leave him alone among these vultures!”

“Ouch!”

Thoth cried out in fright, twitching and falling into the sand, reflexively crawling away.

The grains of sand formed the familiar silhouette of the man mentioned earlier, his red locks spilling onto swarthy skin like another small sea. His pale face stuck out up to the nose comically, revealing an irritated and judgmental look.

“Seth, you scared me! There are people all around here!” Thoth snorted indignantly, wrinkling his nose as he got up and tried to dust off his thighs.

“Go hide before your wife takes you right here then.” Seth snorted, funnilly “rising” from Horus’s chest up to his neck.

Thoth frowned indignantly, but didn’t have time to respond, being led away by the hand in... an uncertain direction.

“Heh.”

The older man smiled with satisfaction, lowering his black sunglasses onto his nose and turning to Horus, grinning just as brightly.

“Do you really like that ‘pose’?” Horus laughed, leaning slightly to kiss the older man on the forehead. Then he lifted his hand with the glass, from which the straw stuck out so conveniently that Seth immediately caught it with his lips. “You remind me of an alien from that movie we watched recently...”

Seth laughed, letting out a loud, clearly satisfied breath as he pulled the straw from his mouth. The rest of his body then formed out of the sand, though stubborn grains continued to shield Horus from... the sun?

“‘Why? Did you miss ‘the whole me’?”

“Yes.”

Horus smiled, lowering the glass (knowing full well it wouldn’t fall thanks to someone’s care) and wrapping both arms around the narrow waist, stealing another kiss from the plump lips. Seth, in turn, smiled quietly against his thin lips and ruffled his damp black hair, which now smelled even more strongly of the sea. Still as cute as ever.

“But don’t you think... that I should spend at least a little time in the sun? Isn’t that why people made beaches?” Horus tilted his head to the side, running his fingertips along his husband’s spine, feeling him shiver slightly and break out in goosebumps.

“Mmm...” Seth grunted, folding his arms across his dark chest and resting his chin on them. “You’re a god, not a human. You won’t get any more tan.”

Jealous.

“But I won’t get sunburned either. I am the sun god, after all, right?” Horus smiled sweetly, innocently fluttering his eyelashes, pretending not to understand the hidden motives of the older man, who, in turn, snorted and pushed his glasses back up onto his head.

“Everyone will be staring at you.” His eyes carried a judgmental look.

“Everyone is looking at you too.”

“They can’t even see me behind you.”

“What if I put on a shirt?”

Seth sighed loudly, looking thoughtfully into his blue eyes, then chuckled.

“Okay. But keep in mind that I won’t let everyone keep staring at you for too long.”

“Because I’m your husband.”

“Because you’re my husband.”

The older man smiled warmly, feeling Horus carefully adjust his necklace, turning the clasp toward his back, and couldn’t resist hugging him around the neck again and stealing another kiss.

He had thought that perhaps their feelings would become routine after fifty years. Then, perhaps after a hundred... The years passed as quickly as the events, the changes in their daily life and order, and yet Seth still felt how the other man’s heart quickened in response to every kiss, every gesture of care, every slight flirtation, every warm glance. Dark hands still embraced him every day, caring for and protecting him as always.

And that charming, special snow-white smile still made him blush every morning.

“Da-a-a-addy!!”

An indignant child’s cry somewhere in the background pulled them out of their little idyll, and Horus tilted his head anxiously, immediately locating the source of the sound with his gaze and then laughing uncontrollably.

Seth turned his head toward the sound too and smiled smugly.

“I told you I wouldn’t let you swim now! You’ve been splashing around in the water for so long, your lips are blue!”

“A-a-a!” The suffering cry from the silhouette near the sea, whose legs were stuck in the sand and apparently couldn’t move, was heard again. “This is a prison!”

“No, it’s a warning! I’m watching you!”

Seth chuckled quietly too, turning back to the younger man and leaving such a cozy spot to sit down next to him.

Horus got up as well, feeling tiny grains of sand trickle down. Hot palms covered pale shoulders, and Horus stole another kiss from the man’s neck before carefully gathering the unruly scarlet locks and pinning them back with a hairclip.

“Kids said they wanted to build a sandcastle... Shall we?”

“Mm.” The younger god smiled, resting his head on the sharp shoulder and sliding his hand along his beloved’s waist. “Another competition?”

Seth chuckled slyly, kissing the other’s nose:

“It will be difficult for you to beat me... But you’ve always been able to find a way, haven’t you?”