Chapter 6

 

“Alright, before we get to today’s lesson, I need to run a small errand down to the hardsilk refinery. Care to tag along?” Merritith asked as she gathered up a few silk scrolls. Vittea nodded excitedly. She was very eager to see everything she hadn’t seen yet. The Hive so far had been an incredible magic wonderland, and she wanted more.

Merritith was a fast walker, and Vittea was grateful she had warmed up from her training session before having to keep pace with the clerk. “So…how are you and Yasua doing?” Vittea asked with a grin. She was rewarded with Merritith’s cheeks immediately flushing a deep purple. “I-I do not know what you are referring to. She is a competent and respected coworker,” Merritith stuttered, refusing to meet Vittea’s gaze as they walked. 

Vittea snorted. “Suuuure. Look, I won’t pretend to know much about you two, but honestly I’ve never seen two people try harder to pretend they don’t like each other. You know she can’t keep her eyes off you?”

Merritith scoffed, but Vittea could see something sparkle in her eyes. “She…she does? I…um…” she stuttered before clearing her throat with a cough. “It is inappropriate to discuss this during work. I would encourage you to focus on your studies and training, Vittea,” Merritith said, trying to give Vittea her best stern teacher glare, but her heart wasn’t in it. Vittea simply shrugged with a grin. They would figure it out on their own, she just wanted to give a poke here and there.

Vittea wasn’t sure what to expect from the refinery, but when Merritith pushed open the double-doors all she could do was gawk. This place made the training center look like Merritith’s office. The tall, vaulted ceiling was obscured by thick vapour pouring off of enormous vats of glowing blue fluid. She could see moths up on catwalks, dumping silk into the vats before stirring the pot with long poles. The air shimmered with heat around the blue goop as one of the vats tipped, pouring the material into ingots.

Beyond that, sparks filled the air. Moths in various protective gear ground and hammered at blue ingots. Massive power hammers thudded in rhythm, accompanied by the screech of the grinders. Other machines bent and pressed the material, which was sent down roller belts to moths who engraved runes and inlaid silk into the grooves. The belts then split, the parts going to other areas of the facility. The majority, however, were funneled towards a large hole in the wall, exposed to open air. Near the opening was a semi-circle of mounts, each holding what to Vittea looked like moth mannequins. 

They shared the four arms, four wings, and two antennae, but in the place of chitin plates and fur were armor and silk. The mannequins had no eyes, with groups of lenses in their place. What Vittea noticed, however, was that no two were the same. Some had blades on their arms, some had glowing crystals held in complicated mounts. One had four massive, heavily armored legs, while another had no legs at all. Each seemed custom built for a purpose.

As she stared, mouth open, she almost jumped out of her chitin when she heard a chuckle right behind her. She whipped around to see a bulky humanoid mothkin grinning at her, clearly stifling a laugh. They had long ‘hair’ bound up into a messy bun, and were wearing a very dirty tank top under a thick leather apron pocked with burn marks.

Vittea fought down a blush, her hands fidgeting in embarrassment. “S-Sorry, was I in the way? I was just looking at the…uh…not sure what they are, actually…” She scratched at her neck, unsure what to say. Was she even supposed to be here?

The mothkin simply chuckled again and shook their head. “Yer fine. Vittea, right? Nice ta meetcha, yer a bit of a minor celebrity ‘round here. I’m Berrina, one’a the head drone engineers,” she said, holding out on of her rough hands. Vittea gratefully shook her hand, which turned out to be covered in grease and crystal dust. 

“Sorry ‘bout that, everything’s messy here.” Berrina offered the hem of her apron for Vittea to wipe her hands on. 

“It’s okay. You make those drones?! That’s so cool! I’m still learning about the Hive, but so far this place is beyond my imagination,” Vittea yammered on, sticking her now clean hands into her pockets, so as not to touch anything impulsively. Her eyes kept drifting over to the drones. She couldn’t help it. Taking a closer look, she could see strands of silk embedded into the hard exterior plates, and in the joints were braided cords of silk, but of a different colour, and it glimmered in the light in a strange way. 

Berrina grinned, moving to stand next to her as she stared. “Yup, sure do. Well, me and everyone else here, but I do a lotta the designs and final adjustments. Gotta make sure they don’t fall apart when we send them out into the field. Wanna get a closer look?”

Vittea nodded excitedly. “Are you sure?! I don’t want to keep you from your work, but if you are offering…then I’d love to.”

Berrina, unsurprisingly, was extremely knowledgeable when it came to the drones, and was more than willing to share it with Vittea. The drones were the Hive’s main combat and scouting force, and their modular, easily customizable design meant that the engineers could customize them as much or as little as they wanted. They were made from hardsilk, the material that Vittea had seen processed before, which was made from crystal shards gathered from the monsters in the dungeon, melted and combined with silk filaments to make a strong, durable, magically potent material. 

The magic flowed from the crystal core in the center of the drone through the silk cords that ran through the chassis, coordinated by the glyphs both carved into the hardsilk and woven into the silk that was infused into the molten crystal. Doing this allowed the engineers to disperse the magical processing across the entire drone, each part monitoring and adjusting itself while the central processor simply coordinated the parts, rather than doing all the work itself. This made parts more easily replaceable, and meant that as long as the parts were properly enchanted, a relatively small core could power just about any size of drone.

Vittea was enraptured as Brennia went on. The idea that the silk she could make was capable of being turned into these incredible creations. More importantly, there was something inside her that wanted, fervently, to be involved. Ideas for drone configurations raced behind her eyes. But more than that, she could see herself wearing one, using the power of the drones to enhance herself, to serve as both a shield and a sword against her dangerous new world.

“You there, hun? Not borin’ you, am I?” Berrina’s voice broke through Vittea’s daydream. She shook her head emphatically, smiling gratefully at the engineer. “No, sorry. I just…I think this might be what I want to do? I haven’t been sure what exactly I want to focus on since coming here, and I know I still have a lot of the Hive to see, but…holy shit this is awesome and I want to start tinkering as soon as possible.”

Berrina beamed at her with a hand on her hip. “That’s the spirit. I like that look in your eye. Tell you what, you let Merritith know you wanna intern here, I know she’s your mentor. The way you look at them drones, I really wanna see what you wanna make of ‘em.” She spat in her upper-right palm and held it out to Vittea again. Vittea snorted and gave her a firm shake. “I can’t wait.” She really couldn’t.

***

“Are you sure?” 

Merritith looked back over her shoulder as she sorted the new silk scrolls she had picked up at the refinery. “I have a tour of the textile facility planned for tomorrow, and the logistics center for the day after that. There’s still so much more of the Hive to see, and I do not want you to feel rushed to make a decision.”

Vittea nodded firmly, shifting a pile of scrolls out of a chair before taking a seat. “I’m sure. It might just be impulse, sure, but something about the culmination of all that the Hive does being used to help the Hive has me caught. The complexity, the possibilities, the heat, the noise. If I could spend my days working in the refinery, helping build drones, I don’t think I’d have regrets.”

Merritith looked her in the eyes for a long moment before letting out a long sigh. “Alright, I see you are set. I will talk with Berrina and get the silkwork started for your internship. But…we want you to feel at home here, not pressured to make yourself useful. If you end up feeling like it’s not the path for you, please let me know?” she said, an uncharacteristically warm smile on her lips. Vittea grinned, hopping up from her seat and taking all four of Merritith’s hands.

“I promise. And you should let Yasua see that smile, I think she’d like it.” Merritith scoffed, a deep blue blush flushing her cheeks as she looked away. However, instead of instantly moving onto another subject like she normally did when Vittea teased her about Yasua, Merritith paused.

“I suppose I am…I am worried that my attempts to push for something more between us would simply push us apart. Your teasing has certain images running through my head when I am near her…” She turned to Vittea with a stern look. “This stays between us, you understand?” Vittea nodded excitedly. Merritith sighed again, setting her scroll aside. 

“You have an outside perspective that I lack. Do…do you really think that Yasua would respond positively to a display of affection from me? Or is it simply part of your playfulness?” Her tone was serious, and Vittea saw a shard of vulnerability in her mentor’s eyes. Vittea smiled, nodding.

“I mean it. I’ve never seen two people as into each other as you two who aren’t dating.”

“When have you even seen people dating? I thought you had memory issues ever since your incarnation?” Merritith asked with a raised brow. Vittea shrugged. “Not sure, just impressions, vibes, ghosts of memories, but I know what I know, ya know?” 

Merritith chuckled, circling her desk and taking a seat in her plush desk chair. “Alright then. Thank you for your honesty. And I have nothing further for you today. Consider yourself free. I have some…arrangements to make,” she said, a gentle blush returning. Vittea beamed, giving her four thumbs up as she made her way towards the door. “Good luck, and remember…just be honest. You two really need to communicate.”

***

Merritith paused in front of Yasua’s office door. The crystals in the tree the diadem was suspended from had faded, heralding night’s arrival. The shadows of the various machines cut odd shapes across the floor of the atrium, the silence almost stifling in the normally raucous facility.

 Her fingers fidgeted around the neck of the bottle of wine she held in her left hand. She stared at the back of her right hand, overthinking as she always did. Was this a step too far? Was she misreading things? If things went wrong, what would-

Her heart stopped as the door opened in front of her, revealing the affectionately smug face of Guard Captain Yasua. 

“I thought that was you. You really do have a unique magic signature,” Yasua said, pausing as her eyes saw the bottle in Merritith’s hand. “What can I do for you at this hour, Clerk Merritith?”

There it was, the slight formality that both comforted and chafed at Merritith. Something in her clicked in that moment, her resolve solidifying as her anxiousness faded, at least a little bit. Reliving old memories with her fascinating new student had her thinking things over, and she had come to the realization that she didn’t want to keep going with this distance between her and Yasua. 

Yasua was someone she admired, but it wasn’t admiration that had her eyes tracking Yasua’s movements, watching her chest shift as she breathed, or staring at her arms as she exercised. This wasn’t how friends behaved. 

Merritith tilted her head as she thought, meeting Yasua’s warm gaze. And friends didn’t generally have each other’s magic scent memorized to the point they could recognize it through a door. 

She straightened her posture and hefted the bottle in her hand, letting some of her walls down and allowing her affection to shine through with an uncharacteristically warm smile.  “An extra bottle ended up on my desk from the most recent batch, and I thought we haven’t really gotten to sit and chat outside of business hours. Would you care to share a glass or two tonight?”

Yasua stood still for a moment before a smile unlike Merritith had ever seen on the guard captain bloomed on her face. She stepped to the side and gestured for Merritith to enter. Merritith, despite her nerves, was excited. She had known Yasua for decades, but had never gone into her office. The guard captain had always come to hers, she realized.

Yasua’s office wasn’t near as spartan as one might expect, holding physical memories of Yasua’s time guarding the hive. Trophies from monsters she had felled decorated the walls, art gifted to her from friends or purchased in her spare time. What made Merritith pause was a thin silk ribbon, with an intricate pattern she knew well, draped across Yasua’s desk. 

She had made that for Yasua decades ago as a thank-you for saving her life. She had to all but force it onto the humble guard, and had honestly expected it to be tossed out or forgotten about. She did not expect to see it here, worn from time but clearly taken care of, where Yasua could see it at all times.

Yasua clearly noticed Merritith staring at the ribbon, as she took the bottle of wine from Merritith’s hand and moved to prepare their glasses with a speed that Merritith knew was how Yasua displayed embarrassment. Many thought the woman gruff and expressionless, but Merritith had learned over the years that she simply displayed it differently. One needed to pay attention to her etheric scent and her behaviour to discern her mood, both things Merritith had experience doing.

 

Merritith took a seat on the couch in the middle of the room and took the moment to watch Yasua. Normally she would be anxious about if she was being too obvious and not hiding her affection, but wasn’t that the point of tonight? If anything came of the evening, she wanted Yasua to know how she felt, and to know how Yasua felt. Clearing the air, come weal or woe. 

 

Yasua slowed down after the initial burst of embarrassed haste, pouring the  wine with a delicate care that made Merritith jealous of the wineglass. When Yasua turned back around to see Merritith staring at her while biting her lower lip, she froze. Merritith felt a spark of glee flare in her chest. Being able to openly tease the gentle giant felt amazing, and to her delight she sensed Yasua’s ether flare with…would it be selfish to think it was hope?

 

Yasua handed Merritith her glass and paused again. Merritith could see the wheels turning in her head before she slowly sat down directly next to Merritith, when she would normally keep a respectful distance. Merritith couldn’t help but beam.

“So, I want to be forthright tonight,” she said before taking a sip, “as I know no other way to approach this. I apologize if I am presumptuous, but…” She looked up to Yasua to see her staring intensely. Merritith met her gaze, her fingers running around her glass as she looked deep into her eyes. She had never seen Yasua this vulnerable.

Merritith took a deep breath, letting her anxieties and nerves flow out of her, and set a gentle hand on Yasua’s shoulder. Her very strong shoulder…no, focus Merritith. This is important, damn it.

Yasua didn’t pull away, but remained stock still, frozen as if when she moved this moment would shatter. Merritith wanted to soothe her anxiety, and for one of the first times in their friendship she actually knew what to do.

She leaned up, actually needing to rise to her knees to reach Yasua’s eye level. Merritith stifled a whimper as she felt their antennae tangle, but what she sensed from Yasua gave her courage. Her magic was warm and active, jumping and whirling around her in excitement. Despite Yasua not having moved a muscle, she could feel so much affection and hope coming from the moth-woman. 

Merritith again met her gaze and she smiled, not bothering to clamp down on her emotions, trying to be brave and let herself be seen by this person she had trusted with her life, and had proven themselves. 

She brushed a thumb over Yasua’s cheek, and she melted. Yasua’s stunned expression warmed into a smile and she leaned forwards, closing the distance between the two of them. Merritith’s eyes went wide as Yasua grew closer.

“I-I apologize if this is too forward of me, but…” Yasua beamed and, to Merritith’s delight, nuzzled into the palm of her hand. 

“Merritith…” Yasua spoke in a soft rumble that made Merritith’s antennae tremble, “I think there is nothing I want more out of tonight than seeing you be forward with me.” Yasua sat back in her spot on the couch, her gentle eyes sparkling with anticipation. “Please continue, Merritith.”

Merritith herself found it hard to think. Yasua was so strong yet gentle, so trusting but still so perceptive. Merritith internally admonished her past self for her indecision, but that could be postponed. 

She nodded, taking another fortifying breath, and spoke.

“I have been thinking about you a lot, as of late. I have noticed a distance between us that previously I didn’t even sense, but now is all I can see. The distance of assumptions and etiquette and professionalism, all things I thought of quite highly until I noticed them keeping me away from you.”

She shifted closer to Yasua, pressing up against her side, the wine forgotten on the coffee table for the moment. “The one thing I was worried about was that you would prefer the distance. Would I be wrong to assume, due to your behaviour tonight, that you would like to grow as close to me as I to you?”

Yasua slowly bent forwards, tangling her antennae with Merritith’s. The smaller moth-woman stuttered, the pale chitin of her face flushing gently as she felt the gentle fuzz against her own, her arms folding to nestle herself more firmly in Yasua’s arms.

“As close as I can, Merritith.

Strong arms wrapped around her, and she found herself surrounded by warmth, body and soul. She sniffled, trying to keep her hope at bay and utterly failing. 

“I’m sorry for being difficult, but I would like to hear it stated plainly, from the both of us. I care for you, romantically, and I would like to join with you until life might take us elsewhere. Do you accept my affections?,” Merritith asks, her voice cracking, her worries flaring up as it felt like the best might happen, that the moth-woman she adores might share her feelings, and she might actually get to allow herself what she has yearned for. Her anxieties couldn't believe that.

“I can let you go if you do not.  I would rather you be happy without me than coerced with me,” she said, dropping her gaze to her fidgeting fingers, her lower two hands clenching at her skirt, her upper pair clenching each other.

A strong hand setting gently between her wings paused her worrying, and two strong fingers gently lifted her chin to meet Yasua’s caring, adoring face. “It is okay, you sweet thing. Gosh, I was blind to not notice just how much you care for me. I said before, I want to be as close I can, Merritith. Yes, I accept your affections, as long as you accept mine.” Merritith watched with wide eyes as Yasua closed in further, their mouths perilously close. 

“May I kiss you, Merritith, as both a friend and a lover?” Merritith whimpered, whimpered!, but neither her modesty nor her sense of propriety could find any strength. So, she nodded, smiling back at the woman smiling so lovingly at her and, before Yasua could react, pushed forwards.

Her breath hitched as their lips touched. Yasua chuckled at her reaction, earning a gentle bap on the chest from the smaller moth. Her wings fluttered over her back as her worries faded, both body and heart feeling satisfied. Yasua had heard her feelings and heartily returned them. This was the best answer, and so she decided to stop worrying, and simply live in it.

She felt Yasua’s hands playfully tugging at the knots and ties that held her outfit together, raising her eyebrow at Merritith in question. Merritith bit down on a beaming smile. Something about her expression made Merritith want to tease her, just a little.

She booped Yasua’s nose with a gentle tap, and giggled as her multifaceted eyes went crossed-eyed. “Use your words,” she said, trying to keep her best disappointed tutor voice. “What is it you want, Yasua?”

Yasua chuckled, her lower arms wrapping around Merritith and holding her comfortably against her. “Hmmm. Fine, I’ll play. May I take off your clothes, Merritith?” she replied, her tone only slightly playfully overformal. 

Merritith nodded, and their evening continued.