“I’m glad that you agreed to hire me again after the giant snail incident,” Phoebe cooed, prancing happily into the Dungeon. Avery was following after, trotting but with much less enthusiasm. He didn’t understand where she got all her energy from, these Dungeons were terrible and exhausting. Having to continually leave and enter them felt like hell.

     “Yeah, yeah, well.. You’re the only one that will actually accept my contracts anymore, so,” he huffed, kind of throwing his head back. Phoebe looked back at him, cracking this cheesy and playful grin.

     “Nobody else can handle your charming and sweet personality, huh?”

     Avery could’ve rolled his eyes in the back of his head. He trotted faster past Phoebe, who laughed and quickly kept pace with him. His hooves clopped firmly against the ground, while Phoebe seemed to glide right over the rocks. She was a natural down here. They already had a plan of where to go, a room full of abandoned and rusted bardings.

     It didn’t take too long to make their way down to the room. Phoebe, in all her ‘infinite wisdom,’ knew the exact paths to get there. Avery took the lead as they entered the room, huffing softly to himself. It was very dreary and dark in this cavern, it smelled faintly of rot and death. The two Coursers wandered away from each other - Avery went towards some of the armor, nudging and moving them with his hooves. Something valuable is what he was looking for, or maybe even armor to wear.

     Avery pushed over a piece of armor, a bunch of dirt kicking up with it. He brushed some away with his hoof… only to be met with tons of tiny, glittery bugs. He jerked his hoof back with a short hiss, flattening his ears. “How the hell am I going to use all this if it’s covered in bugs?” he spat.

     Phoebe was quick to trot over at the endless complainings of Avery, lowering her head to see what the drama was about. She gasped, eyes growing wide with excitement. “These are jewel beetles! Or.. gemstone beetles? They’ve got gemstones for shells!” she chittered. Avery rolled his eyes, squinting at the shiny little things. They were throwing their bodies together, buzzing and squirming around. Phoebe giggled, her ears perking forward. “They’re fighting, so cute!” she awed.

     Avery didn’t share the same interest. “Are they valuable?” he asked flatly, kind of nudging Phoebe aside to get a better look.

     “I mean.. I guess so? All gemstones are valuable. Maybe even more on the back of a beetle?” the yellow Courser hummed in thought, tilting her head.

     That was all Avery needed to hear before he began to round up the beetles. He would grab one gently in his mouth then toss it into a small pouch he had brought. He had a healthy amount gathered up by the time he actually paid attention to Phoebe. And boy, was she really pushing the limits. Eating the beetles. Crunching, chewing, snacking good on these extremely valuable beetles. “What. Are. You. Doing?” he questioned, dumbfounded.

     Phoebe looked up at Avery, smiling at him. Little gem shards were scattered in her teeth. “They’re good! They kind of taste like… rock…. and candy…? I guess?” she questioned. “You should try some! They’d probably sell better as a snack than pretty jewelry!”

     Avery’s eyelid twitched slightly, before he shook his head. This Courser continued to prove how crazy she was every time they Dungeoneer together. “I’m leaving with these things before they die. Are you coming with, or just eating bugs?” he asked in a very judgemental tone, his ears very pinned back.

     After a few more bites, Phoebe rolled her eyes. “You are so dramatic, such a sourpuss. Fine, let’s head on back and sell your beetles. Not even bringing the bardings we came for, huh?” she pointed out teasingly, following Avery as he trotted out of the cavern.