Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The moon was as bright and full tonight as it was during the last Golden Harvest Festival and the celebrations were bigger and better than ever.

Kabbu gazed upon the scene with warm contentment. He could hardly believe it had been a year since the last festival in the Golden Settlement. It was during that time where he felt that he, Vi and Leif had really started to gel as a team and become true friends. Sure, they had managed to acquire the Artifact deep within the den that bestowed upon them their moniker (and yes, it turned out that the number of explorers said to have perished there had been rather wildly exaggerated) but it was something that they only really stumbled upon by luck more than skill. Kabbu had offered Vi a partnership that mutually benefitted them both but the beetle would have been lying if he denied that part of his reasoning was his desperate need to have companionship and the flash of fear he felt when the headstrong bee was determined to stride into adventure with little thought for preparation. And Leif, of course, was discovered and revived by the whims of chance, left behind for who knew how many years. But by the time they had reached the Golden Settlement and the festival was in full swing, they had talked together, fought together, laughed together. Somehow, from that point on, they steadily grew from being partners of convenience to becoming friends – nest-friends – with a powerful bond. For Kabbu, it was undoubtedly here where that sense of love and belonging truly cemented itself.

The Harvest Festival felt even more special this time in regards to seeing so many familiar faces partaking in the revelry. Celia and Levi were the ones testing their mettle in ritual combat against Acolyte Aria while Gen and Eri were having fun listening to their fortunes being told. Delilah was also having (a little too much) fun sampling the Golden Settlement’s beverages while Eetl was angsting over what souvenirs to buy. Meanwhile, Stratos and the hulking miner ant Diana were facing off in the eating competition against the defending champion Leif. One would assume there to be little contest when one of the participants was a Hercules beetle and an especially giant ant against a rather slender moth but Kabbu and Vi knew better as to who to put the betting money on. Either way, all three were happy just to have free, delicious food courtesy of the local farms and Leif had the added benefit of having his family cheer him on. The moth rarely showed his emotions easily but Kabbu and Vi could tell that Leif was immeasurably happy to enjoy the occasion with both friends and family, all of whom he cared for equally.

Leif, for his part, was also determined to make this festival memorable for his family and whether he could truly recall or not if he had ever gone to the Harvest Festival long ago with his wife Muse, it didn’t really matter in the end as he could make the most of the here and now. As such, he was surprisingly insistent on paying for a considerable amount of things; it was worth it to see the joy on his family’s faces. After all, such an occasion only happened once a year. And Kabbu and Vi had no issues if Leif needed to dip into the team funds since at this point, they too were a part of the moth family. Besides, Team Snakemouth’s bank account and their stashes were looking more than healthy right now.

As promised by Queen Elizant, the team had duly received their reward for eradicating the Dead Lander Prime and, much to Vi’s glee, it was quite a significant amount indeed, as was undoubtedly deserved. In addition, Vi had also received her own monetary gift from Queen Bianca when she and Kabbu went to visit her in the royal chambers and inform her of their new relationship, figuring that it would be best if the Mother of Bees heard the news directly from them. Vi hadn’t been too sure of what to expect even though she suspected that her mother already knew what had been developing in the background given the contents of her last letter. To her relief though, Queen Bianca was simply delighted and indeed, she was proud of her daughter for figuring out such difficult feelings by herself. 

It was true, Queen Bianca explained, that most honeybees never felt such feelings materialise as was the colony instinct and naturally, their perspective on the idea of romantic love was quite different to that of loner bugs. But, in the Queen’s experience as well as that of her predecessors, there were always a few colony bugs in each generation who simply felt things differently even if they struggled to understand them at first. Similar things also occurred within the other social colonies from time to time. Such was the way of their own Awakening. And besides, her child’s happiness was plainly evident and really, was it so strange that she had developed such feelings given the path her life had taken now? And also, it certainly helped, the Queen added teasingly, that she quite approved of the partner in question which unsurprisingly caused Kabbu to be flushed with embarrassment for the rest of the meeting. Oh, she could tell them stories about the kinds of partners that other bees had paired themselves with before, some less to do with proper romance and more in a vain attempt to understand the concept and yes, sometimes to be rebellious in some manner of speaking. Few of them lasted long when built on such foundations without the closeness Vi and Kabbu already had. The Queen knew much that was not imparted upon her children. But they were perhaps stories for another time.

(Also, it was no surprise that the rest of the Hive had a field day with the news because really, this was the same bee they were talking about, right? Their rambunctious, headstrong, little firecracker who had threatened to dump her fellow workers in a vat of honey on multiple occasions? And yes, she was being completely serious and no, a work partner and a romantic partner was not the same thing even if they could overlap and seriously no, Malbee, she wasn’t joking or being rebellious for the Queen’s sake, and no, theyweren’tgoingtohaveeggswhatweretheytalkingaboutonlyQueenshadeggsandanywayitwasnicechattingbuttheyhadtogonow. At least Jaune understood things better and possessed a little more tact regarding the topic. She did, however, take great enjoyment in teasing Vi about her newly-acquired sappiness. Well, it was probably merited on some level. Ugh. Clearly, love did weird things to a bug.)

The team also encountered Mothiva and Zasp which ought not to have been a surprise even though the former had declined putting on a performance this year, wanting the leisure to enjoy the festivities without work getting in the way. What was most surprising though was that, with a rather unnecessary furtive glance, Mothiva had all but dragged a somewhat startled Kabbu off to the side somewhere with the excuse that she simply had to borrow him for a moment, quite audaciously too given that Leif’s family was accompanying Team Snakemouth.

“Oi!” Vi exclaimed, unsurprisingly not exactly allowing Mothiva to yank her partner and hopefully-soon-to-be-full-mate away without comment. “Whaddya think you’re doing?”

“Mothiva, please,” Kabbu began. “I do not wish for any trouble but if this is about our battle last year…”

“I’ve been hearing rumours about you,” the diva cut across with a whisper. Her tone seemed… off somehow, as if it was lacking its usual sharp edge. “I… want to confirm if they’re true.”

Both the beetle and the bee hesitated for a moment, caught off-guard. “What?” Vi said, hands on hips. “The rumours that me and Kabbu are a couple? Yeah, where’ve you been? Everybody knows that now. Got a problem with that?”

The silkworm moth waved away the bee’s words. “Ugh, no, I couldn’t care less that either of you—” She then stopped and grimaced as if reminding herself that she needed to speak politely to her rivals for once. “Look, that seamstress has been locked up now, hasn’t she? The news about that was everywhere. But while she was on the run, your team were basically doing nothing. You were all injured and you—" She pointed to the beetle. "—Weren't around at all. In hindsight, it just seemed very unusual. Maki had the audacity to drag me up about my apparent lack of explorer work and—!" She stopped herself again and folded her arms. "Anyway, there were other rumours then too. Obviously I hear things when I'm on a tour. I dismissed them at the time because they seemed absolutely ridiculous but then I heard the later rumours and they matched up too well. That you guys were involved in the pheromone assault and you were the one that got struck by it. So... is it true?" 

Kabbu swallowed. He supposed it was not impossible for the odd rumour or two to make their rounds somehow. Of course, he did not exactly appreciate Mothiva confronting him about this now when he was here with friends and family for a pleasant evening. He could feel Vi fuming next to him for she had never truly got past that incident regarding the disgraceful attempt to steal credit and Mothiva's usual behaviour had only cemented that bad impression. Though Kabbu tried to see the best in everybody, even he had to eventually settle for simply being as polite a colleague as possible when it became clear that Mothiva was never really going to improve. Not all people would change for the better as much as others wanted them to. And of course, who could forget the whole business within the Termite Colosseum?

And yet for once, she seemed... sincere. Concerned even.

He glanced over at Vi. She shrugged and said: "It's your choice. Whatever you feel is right. You know I'll help out whichever way." She narrowed her eyes at the moth. "Could have picked a better time though."

She's right. And I don't want to keep on keeping secrets. Kabbu nodded. "It's true. It was me. Leif was thankfully immune. I wasn't."

Mothiva flinched, not quite prepared for the answer despite her question nor for the serious look in the beetle's eyes. "So when you weren't with the rest of your team in Defiant Root..."

"I was isolated in the clinic. It was quite necessary. I do not need to explain further than that. I am just thankful that Vi and Leif were able to bring me back to good spirits and health again." He placed particular emphasis on their names since Mothiva never had the courtesy of using them and indeed, she seemingly went out of her way to avoid using their names at all. At this point, he didn't really expect anything else and there was little point in wasting energy on the effort but one had to try regardless and be the better bug.

"...I see," Mothiva said after a moment. "I'm... sorry you had to go through that. And that... well, I could have been more sympathetic at the time."

Kabbu blinked with surprise and he could sense that Vi was just as surprised if not more so. He had found out about the pub confrontation in the end and there was a brief moment where he had regretted his polite stance regarding the moth. "Um... OK."

Mothiva sighed. "So the spa thing. You were there after you... recovered?"

"In a manner of speaking," Kabbu answered. She would not, of course, be privy to the full details. She did not deserve that level of trust. "We all needed the opportunity to relax." He flicked his wings. "I believe that answers your question?"

"Ah... yes. Well then... do enjoy the festival then."

Mothiva left the pair to rejoin Zasp who was waiting nearby upon which they joined the crowd and soon vanished from sight.

"Huh," Vi said. "Well, that was kinda unexpected."

"Indeed it was. Though I suppose that is as much of an apology as we can hope to expect."

Vi snorted. "Did you see the look on her face though? You can pull off a super good death glare, you know!"

"Vi, I wasn't giving her a death glare," the beetle protested.

"Oh, you were, Kabbu, you were," said Leif who had apparently been observing the whole time. "It really is quite effective. You do that with a lot of our enemies."

"I do not give death glares!"

"Oh, to have such a skill that you're not even aware of," Leif opined in that deliberate manner of his. "We ought to be jealous." He patted the beetle's arm and smirked. "You're doing it again by the way."

"I swear..." Kabbu grumbled.

He couldn't really be annoyed though when they found his reaction to be funny even if it was completely unintentional as it somehow always was when it came to the beetle. And so, forgetting about Mothiva's existence, they rejoined the moth family and threw themselves into the festivities with complete enjoyment.

Aside from that and all the others they had bumped into so far, not all of those they knew well were here enjoying themselves and having fun. Like last time, Maki had declined the festivities, seeing it as a distraction from his training and duties. Not even Kina was able to convince him to attend, much to her frustration since again, it meant he was partaking in something alone, having once again slid into such bad habits even though he ought to have known better by now. In the end, she brought Yin – whom she was now on much better terms with since the latter’s metamorphosis – to the festival along with Eetl and Artis, and they all agreed to gang up on the mantis upon their return for being such a stick-in-the-mud. 

It was a shame, Kabbu thought later on, perhaps with a touch of irony. Dedication to one’s duty was fine to a point, meritorious even, but not if it was constantly prioritised above everything else, excluding and denying simple joys to oneself, and potentially damaging relationships with others even if there were good intentions behind such actions. Kabbu, at least, had never been so dedicated to duty as to forget how to have fun. 

Apart from simple pragmatism, such an inclination towards duty was the major reason why Maki had initially sent Team Snakemouth on that mission despite knowing about Kabbu’s ordeal; he genuinely believed that the work would be helpful for the beetle because he found such things helpful himself though in the process, it meant overlooking the fact that Kabbu was simply not in a good enough condition for it. It was a dangerous path the beetle knew all too well he was liable to fall back upon if the downwards, self-sacrificial mood took hold of him strong enough, honed and ingrained via life in the North. Thankfully, he had plenty of support now to help keep him in check and he was hopeful that future therapy sessions would help bolster that new feeling even further. The duty towards taking care of himself was of higher importance now and it was not a selfish thing to desire in the slightest. And apart from that, he had new priorities that filled his heart full of joy.

Later that evening, Kabbu watched Vi expertly hit the targets with her Beemerang without missing a single shot and he found himself happily entranced by the sight. It had only occurred to the beetle later in the course of their adventures but the fact that Vi was as accomplished at combat as she was was truly remarkable given her circumstances. Considering the Bee Kingdom’s culture and her status as a worker bee, there hadn’t been any opportunities for any kind of formal training to help her achieve her dreams of becoming an explorer. Colony bees were not meant for dangerous adventuring; everyone in the Hive knew that. Her small stature and designated role had also meant that the taller guard bees never acquiesced even once to Vi’s request of giving her some kind of combat training. It would have been a waste of everybody’s time and it would only have served to give Vi dangerous notions. Besides, it was whispered that previous Queens had lost children who sought adventure to the depths of some mysterious den and it would break Queen Bianca’s heart to hear of such a fate happening to one of her children. In the end, Vi spied upon their sparring practices from afar and copied their routines as best she could as well as undertaking various exercises in her spare time to build up her strength and stamina. Quite the defiance given how the odds were stacked against her and it had put in Kabbu’s mind his own act of defiance against the values of his old homeland. Obviously, it had all eventually worked out and Vi was able to benefit later on from both Kabbu’s combat experience and Leif’s scouting knowledge but it had taken a lot of courage, strength and sheer determination to get to where she was now. 

Small wonder that Kabbu was now hopelessly and wonderfully smitten really.

“Hell yeah,” Vi grinned. “Nobody’s beating that score!”

Kabbu smiled at her exuberance. “You’ve certainly got even better.” The Beemerang might have had certain upgrades to make fighting easier but it still required skill to use the weapon effectively. One time, Vi had laughed herself nearly sick when coercing Kabbu and Leif into giving it a go with less than impressive results. Chompy ended up fetching it back on multiple occasions and happily learnt a new trick. It was a silly and yet wonderful memory. “I guess you’ve set quite the high target for everybody else to reach.”

Vi laughed. “Yeah, of course! No point in doing half-measures, you know?”

Mayor Emmet, who was also watching the event, chuckled. While the game was being operated by the beetle Claire this time now that her business was fully back up and running, the golden wētā was still hanging around, enjoying watching the many participants having a good go and having fun. And bless his soul, he could easily see that the young beetle had that infatuated look in his eyes whilst watching the bee dart across the ring. After everything that had happened, it was a great relief to see the scarab in such high spirits for naturally, the mayor had been informed of the good news regarding the couple and he had given his joyous congratulations to them both. It was an unusual pairing to be sure but it was built upon solid foundations and he had every confidence that they would go from strength to strength. “Well now, I suppose everyone else must now compete for second place.”

“You sure you’re not going to have a go, Kabbu?” Vi asked, still grinning. “You might get fourth if you’re lucky.”

“Aha, I think I’ll leave this one to the expert, Vi. Of course, if we were talking about digging, then that would be quite different.”

“We really must have some kind of digging game for next year’s festival,” Mayor Emmet remarked. “It would certainly fit in with the harvesting theme. Oh, Kabbu, if you two are heading off to do something else now, allow me to just give you this before you go…”

Kabbu smiled again; they both knew how to play this particular game. “Sir, you are too generous. Are you sure you should be giving me this amount of berries? You have spent more than enough on me recently.”

Mayor Emmet pushed a heavy bag of berries into the beetle’s hand and pressed his other hand on top of it. “Ah, Kabbu, but you know I insist! And besides, surely you wouldn’t turn down my generous offer when you could be using it to buy something for your dear lady friend next to you.”

Vi nudged Kabbu. “Welp, you heard the mayor and he knows what he’s talking about so now it would be rude to refuse.”

As always, the game resulted in the mayor’s victory. Kabbu pocketed the berries and gave a small bow. “Thank you, sir. It’s as appreciated as always.”

The golden wētā beamed. “I know you do, Kabbu. You’ve got a good heart. And let me tell you, my lad, I’m glad to see you’re doing better for yourself now.”

Kabbu, as ever, felt that familiar wobble in his emotions with the knowledge that others truly cared for his well-being. Sometimes he wondered if he would ever have been truly capable of picking himself up again from the darkest depths had the dear old bug not opened his home up to a destitute, injured beetle dragged in from the sands, holding within a bleeding, broken heart. “I am, sir. I truly am.”

The mayor clasped the scarab’s shoulder. “Well, I am pleased to hear it, my lad. Pleased to hear it indeed.” He gave Kabbu a couple of reassuring pats. “Well now! I’ve been talking your horn off and you two have hung around here long enough. You ought to be enjoying the rest of the festival together! And I suppose I ought to be doing the same and enjoying a nice glass of berry juice or two!”

“Indeed we should, sir. Please go and enjoy your berry juice and we’ll enjoy ourselves too.”

With a promise that they would share stories upon their next visit, Kabbu and Vi parted ways from Mayor Emmet who was now heading towards one of the stalls for a drink. As Kabbu glanced back, he caught a glimpse of the old wētā wiping something from his face.

“He really is like a proud grandfather, isn’t he?” Kabbu said softly. “I hope I can continue making him proud.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem, Kabbu,” Vi replied. “He dotes on you a heck of a lot, you know.”

“Heh, I can’t really argue against that, can I?” The beetle gave a chuckle. “I would honestly like to get him a gift to thank him for everything he’s done but I’ve no idea what to get. He would only say that I didn’t need to bother and that he doesn’t want much anyway.”

“Yeah, old bugs are kinda like that everywhere,” Vi said sagely. “Leif does the same thing.” She thought for a moment. “What about the Northern food we’ve been making recently? You could bring him a box of homemade snacks or something. He’s not likely to turn those down since he would never have had them before and food's always a good thing.”

Kabbu’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes, that would be perfect! He would be happy to have those seed cakes with his favourite berry tea. Thank you, Vi. I guess that hadn’t occurred to me before now.”

“Heh, told you I was full of great ideas.” And then the bee smirked. “So you gonna buy me a cool gift or souvenir or what? We’re not exactly short on the berries now.”

The beetle tilted his head. “I thought you said earlier that you weren't fussed about souvenirs because they would only create clutter and you would rather have some nice food instead?”

“Yeah, I guess I did.” Of course Kabbu had listened to that. Anyway, the berries would happily pay for their house improvements and then some. “So what do you fancy doing now? I guess we could meet up again with Leif and the others and we—”

“Um, actually, Vi, I was thinking that we could… uhhh…”

The bee looked at Kabbu curiously. He wasn’t one to interrupt much. He was also rubbing the back of his head awkwardly which meant that he was about to say something he considered to be embarrassing. “Huh? What?”

It was now or never. Kabbu cleared his throat. “I was thinking maybe we could go back to our room and we could… we could… mate?”

For a moment, Vi held her breath. She knew she heard him correctly but… “Huh? Kabbu… You… you really want to…?”

Kabbu nodded, blushing violently. It was rare that he was overt in talking about anything to do with desires that were positively mundane, let alone something like this. He took Vi’s hands into his own and tried to shake off his automatic embarrassment. “I… I do. I love you and I want… I want to make love to you. It’s something we’ve been waiting to do but we’ve not had the privacy for it. The inn here is very nice though and this place… means a lot to me. We’ve done so much together, gone through so much together. And tonight has been so wonderful so far so I thought that we… could make it even more memorable.”

A memory stirred in Vi of Kabbu instantly leaping to her defence when Professor Honeycomb had once accused her of being a thief. And then shortly afterwards, Kabbu had asked her to be his partner in the ritual battle against Acolyte Aria. A little later still, the team had reached the Golden Hills summit and Venus then reprimanded Vi for her greed. While the bee had acted gung-ho about it at the time, she did eventually come to the difficult conclusion that the goddess wasn’t wrong in the slightest. Soon enough, she found herself often using Kabbu as guidance for becoming a better person. She had changed a lot since then. So had Kabbu really.

As if suddenly realising how unusually bold he was being, Kabbu shrank back.”O-of course,” he stammered. “If you’re not ready for that yet, then that’s absolutely fine! We-we could get some more food or pet the aphids or—gurk!”

Vi suddenly grabbed his horn and pulled him forwards so the beetle had no choice but to look directly into her eyes. “Oi, don’t go backing out now, you dork! Not when I want it too! I was waiting for you to say something first!”

Kabbu’s eyes were wide with surprise. “You… uhhhh… you were waiting for me? And… uhhhh… you really do?”

How the hell did Kabbu manage to look cute like this, all flustered and sweet? Ugh, he was such a dork. But then again, he was the best kind of dork. “Well… yeah,” the bee admitted. “I mean, I love you back obviously and… it’s something we’ve both wanted for ages now, haven’t we? That’s kinda why we’re getting our own room and all. And, uhhh, you know I’m not exactly the most patient bug around so… yeah. I don’t want half-measures if we’re gonna do this because I want the real deal, alright? I want it. I want you.” 

Upon hearing those words, Kabbu smiled. It was that special smile that made Vi’s wings unconsciously flutter. “Alright then,” he said softly. “And I would be honoured to have you. I—” To Vi’s confusion, the beetle stopped mid-sentence and then he suddenly started shaking with laughter. “Vi, I don’t mean to ruin the moment but others are staring at us since, ah, you’re still holding my horn.”

Oh. The old horn taboo thing and there was obviously only one reason why Vi would be holding Kabbu’s horn. She quickly let go and glared at the random bugs. “Oi! Buzz off! This is a private conversation here!” They quickly scooted off although the bee swore she could hear muffled laughter. Damn, hopefully they hadn’t actually heard what she was saying just now. “Ugh, the others are saying you’re making me all soft, you know.”

Kabbu laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, Vi. Besides, you wouldn’t be you if that was the case. So… shall we go?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. But I’ll race you there!”

At that, Vi suddenly dashed off through the heavy crowd of bugs of all kinds. Kabbu gave her a small headstart but they both knew that he was the quickest of the team by far. Smiling, Kabbu soon followed and despite the packed surroundings, he barely took any time at all to catch up to the bee. Vi couldn’t help but shriek with laughter as the beetle suddenly scooped her up in his arms and then positioned her against his back. It was not the first time he had performed such an action and so she was quite comfortable leaning against him to keep herself steady and observing everything from a higher vantage point. His hands felt warm. His shell was smooth to the touch. And he was still wonderfully iridescent.

In the blink of an eye, they were in front of the door to their room. They both tried opening it at the same time, almost smacking each other’s hands against the handle. With an apologetic chuckle from Kabbu, he let Vi do the honours.

And so, equal parts nervous and excited, they stepped inside. 

The bed, they noted, was bigger than the usual inn beds they had slept in before by themselves. It was packed with wool from the local breed of aphids and cochineals and the leaf sheets were freshly laid. It was pleasant and comfortable as was the room overall. Perfect for what they were about to do.

It was oddly reminiscent of the first time round, Kabbu thought to himself. He and Bit going all the way for their first time together – and his first time period – whilst staying at an inn. Of course it wasn’t the same though. The differences there was that the pair quite obviously had separate rooms for reasons of decorum and said rooms were, while still very much agreeable and welcome, considerably smaller than this one. While their master was occupied in catching up with old friends and thus graciously leaving his apprentices to their own devices for the night, the two young beetles, having a single drink each in the bar, feigned tiredness and aches from their travels and decided that they ought to retire early to bed for the evening. Then, after asserting that the coast was clear, Bit entered Kabbu’s room. He eased the green scarab’s nerves, saying that everyone logically started off as inexperienced so it could hardly be a bad thing to be a little worried and shy, so anyone who sneered at that needed their shells smacking. Soon enough, they then made their night one to remember dearly. It was now Kabbu’s turn to do the same thing.

He sat down on the bed and Vi followed suit. “I’m going to assume you know what this entails, right, Vi?”

The bee nodded. “Yeah, of course. Isau gave me all that stuff to read and I had some good, uh, talks with her. She really cleared up a lot of stuff for me.” After a brief pause, she also added: “And I’ve been reading those books in the royal library too. You know, the interesting ones. In the adult section.”

Kabbu nodded at the first part and then, after a moment of contemplation, startled at the second part. “Wait, what? What do you mean the books in the adult section?”

“Exactly what I mean.” She shrugged. “Hey, I was trying to figure stuff out and that was the only option I had at the time! All loner bug stuff by the way. Like jeez, you guys are seriously obsessed!”

Kabbu rubbed the back of his head and gave a small chuckle. “I’m not sure what I should be more surprised by: that the library has those kinds of books or that you willingly went to the library in the first place.”

Vi lightly shoved the beetle. “You wanted me to read more so you can’t complain. Next time I go, I’ll borrow some for you to save you from the embarrassment of doing it yourself, yeah?” She smirked quite audaciously. “You actually want me to do that, don’t you?”

Kabbu groaned, feeling that he had fumbled the initiative somewhat. On the other hand, this kind of light banter was probably the best kind of lead-in to what they both wanted. And it probably wouldn’t hurt to check them out at some point. For research purposes. “Maybe one or two?” He wrapped an arm around her. He could feel Vi’s wings twitching slightly underneath his touch and he had already noticed her trying not to fiddle her hands against the covers. “Vi? Are you… nervous at all?”

For all of her bravado and occasionally brash attitude, there were still times where Vi could not fully hide her self-doubt. A good part of her general behaviour was down to feeling that she always needed to be outspoken and confident – sometimes overly so – which often came across as being somewhat defensive in nature, especially if she perceived others to be looking down on her, retaliating against those in the Hive who had always cast doubt on her abilities, on her dreams, on her everything. That she had achieved the things she wanted had not quite fully erased the perception that she needed to be confident and assertive at all times and never show an ounce of vulnerability or weakness, otherwise it would be used as a means to bring her down, that if she wasn’t entirely sure of herself, it meant that she obviously didn’t really want the desired object in the first place.

Still, if she had learnt anything of late, it was OK to be worried or even a little scared and that being open and vulnerable was not a sign of weakness at all. Kabbu, more than any of them, had displayed in full his vulnerabilities the past moon. It was only fair to reciprocate in kind.

“I… maybe a little?” Vi replied. She sighed. “I mean, yeah.” She felt as if she was teetering on the precipice of something far greater than herself and once crossed, there was no turning back. “This is something completely different and new to me. I want this. I really want this but I… maybe I’m just worried that it won’t be what I’m expecting or something. I don’t really know how to put it into words I guess. Is that… normal?”

That old sensation of protectiveness rose within Kabbu. Being in a position in which he could offer reassurance and comfort was one in which he felt more confident and secure. It was familiar territory and for the longest time, it was easier to navigate such a path than his own feelings. Again, it was time to return the favour that had once been given him.

Kabbu hugged the bee. “That’s OK,” he said. “And that’s completely normal. We’ll just take things slowly; we have no need to rush and it wouldn’t be as good if we did anyway. We’ll figure things out as we go along so there’s no need to worry about it not being perfect or anything like that. It will be fine no matter what we do. Besides, we’ll have other opportunities and we can make it a truly wonderful time. And I trust you.”

Trust. That was at the heart of this, wasn’t it? Trust in being able to open themselves to one another, to be at their most vulnerable, to intertwine itself with love. It was a trust that had carried them through all their adventures so far.

They had complete trust in each other. That was all that was needed.

Vi returned the hug. “Yeah. I trust you too, Kabbu. Guess you’re gonna have to show me the ropes though but you’re good at teaching stuff.” Feeling more at ease now, she couldn’t help but grin a little and playfully tease the beetle. “So we haven’t even started yet but you’re already thinking about future opportunities?”

“I spend a lot of nights awake, Vi. I wanted to think about nice things. It’s only natural.”

Caught off-guard, Vi snorted with laughter. “Jeez, Kabbu! So it wasn’t all night-time runs?” 

Kabbu looked a little sheepish. “I make use of my private time as best I can. It’s not like I have much opportunity for some privacy otherwise.”

…Whoa. It seemed as if she was suddenly going to learn a lot about this secret, other side to Kabbu that no-one else was going to have the privilege of knowing. It would be quite the exciting education. 

She felt ready now. “Well, in that case,” said Vi. “Are we going to get started or what? It’s rude to keep a female waiting, you know!”

Kabbu chuckled. “My apologies.” And then, to Vi’s surprise and secret excitement, he pulled her close again and, in a deeper voice than usual, whispered: “Allow me to make it up to you. I’ll make it worth the wait and reward your patience.”

Kabbu pressed his mouth against Vi’s in a deep kiss, mandibles clicking as he did so. He began gently stroking her back, rubbing circles around the joint between her wings, and caressing her soft neck fluff. Vi closed her eyes and focussed on the touches she was becoming accustomed to of late. His hands were rendered rough and callused in parts from repeated digging and fighting but he always managed to be soft and delicate in his embraces and ministrations. He took each one slowly, lingering upon the action, to the point that Vi was sure he was teasing her on purpose, before moving onto another part of her body, giving the same level of attention. Not that she was really complaining about the slow pace as she felt an increasingly wonderful, electrifying tingle spread throughout her entire being from each part touched.

At random intervals, Kabbu nuzzled at her fluff which in many ways felt more intimate than kisses alone. More intimate still was when his hands moved to her antennae and stroked up and down to the tips and fine edges. A sound of satisfaction unconsciously escaped her and Kabbu repeated the motion several times, drawing out the sensation. Her head was starting to feel warm and fuzzy and her wings fluttered of their own accord. So far, this was not too dissimilar from what they had done with each other very recently but this felt… more somehow. More enticing. More sensual.

In return, Vi placed her hands against his shell and then moved to softly brush against the rest of his body. There were little scars here and there that were too old to be fully healed and erased by Venus in a single session but each one told a story of experience and fortitude. She traced patterns across his chest and felt his pulse quicken in pace, matching hers. Underneath the softer underside that suggested weight gained by honey drops was firm muscle and strength developed through rigorous training and combat. It made her eager to discover more.

Kabbu shivered. He was certain that in his younger days he had been more or less touch-starved because he couldn’t get enough of being held and touched just like this. Vi’s warm fuzz brushing against his firmer chitin made him feel alight with joy. He craved more of that contact.

Vi glanced up, noticing that Kabbu’s antennae were unfurling themselves; it was only during something like this, Kabbu had informed her, in such intimate surroundings, that they were able to consistently do so without any conscious thought on his part. She reached out to touch one but then drew back, hesitating.

“It’s fine,” Kabbu whispered. “Just be careful like before.”

Permission granted, the bee ran a finger down the outer edge of the feathery appendage. Kabbu felt his breathing quicken and couldn’t help but quiver slightly as she swapped sides and repeated the action, caressing the delicate tips. Back and forth, back and forth. Having locked down his deepest desires for so long out of fear, worry and shame, he hadn’t realised just how much he had missed this kind of feeling. He closed his eyes and felt his elytra and lower wings unconsciously rub together and his legs twitch, creating a strange, rhythmic rubbing sound in the process.  

“Uhh, Kabbu?” Vi asked as the beetle began rocking on the spot, chitin flickering in an almost musical manner. Huh. He didn’t seem to realise what he was doing. It was something that had cropped up in the pamphlets. What was it called again? Stridulation? Apparently, some bugs couldn’t help themselves when they were in the mood. It was one of those old holdovers from pre-Awakening times.

Some seconds after Vi stopped stroking, Kabbu suddenly startled with the realisation of what he was doing. His face briefly appeared troubled and he glanced to the side. “S-sorry, Vi,” he mumbled. “I, uhh… I usually keep that under control. We couldn’t risk being heard so I, uhhh… had to try and keep myself quiet. Sometimes with a pillow. Sorry, I—”

Vi clamped a hand over the beetle’s mouth before he could deprecate himself as was his usual tendency and shook her head. “Kabbu, it’s fine. Isn’t this a good thing? Like, you don’t have to hide anything anymore. And it’s not like I mind it; it just surprised me, that’s all.”

Kabbu lifted her hand away and quirked an apologetic smile. It was going to take time to get used to this new way of doing things but that was only to be expected. Just one step at a time was all that he could ask of himself. “This is one of those ‘I shouldn’t be overthinking it times’, isn’t it?”

Vi brushed her hands against his antennae again and this time, Kabbu couldn’t help but let out a small sound of pleasure. “Duh, obviously!”

The beetle hummed and pressed his head against hers. “I’m glad you can put some sense into me, Vi.”

As they continued, both became more relaxed and comfortable, sinking deeper into their shared state of long-delayed arousal. Coaxing Vi to lie against the pillows and ensuring that her stinger was safely out of the way, Kabbu moved himself above her. He did not fully press his weight down just yet though, keeping his arms next to each side of her body, and instead nuzzled his face against Vi’s again.

“Your scent is wonderful, Vi,” the beetle murmured, taking in that intoxicating honey fragrance that was very much unlike mere, ordinary honey.

Vi was suddenly aware that Kabbu’s earthy scent seemed stronger than usual. Apparently, this was quite normal as a bug’s senses became heightened during this period of activity and occasionally certain bugs could get a little scent-drunk off their partner. She briefly wondered if Kabbu was one of those types of bugs given his sensitivity and the fact that he strictly avoided ordinary intoxication, given both his views on the matter and his admittedly low tolerance of the stuff. It was nothing to be worried about health-wise though and it was really quite harmless; she just didn’t want Kabbu feeling so relaxed and cosy that he ended up falling asleep before they got to the main event.

“Kabbu…” she groaned. Now he was lightly nibbling at the spot just above her neck fluff similar to how he gave that first lovebite. Being bitten should not have been appealing but from Kabbu, it felt so nice. And with Kabbu holding himself so tantalisingly close above her, she was starting to feel certain urges beginning to stir within, a lit flame that was only going to burn more strongly the longer they went on. “When are you… getting to the, you know, main bit?”

“We’ll get there; just a little longer.” And then Kabbu flashed an unusually mischievous-looking grin. “I was thinking of doing a little something before that part though if you don’t mind.”

“It better be good, you—ah!”

The bee took a sharp breath as Kabbu began working his way down, leaving a trail of kisses and occasional tender bites with always the right amount of pressure. She felt her heart thud with anticipation as the beetle hovered just above the space between her legs. There had been a dull ache slowly building up this entire time and now she could feel what was unmistakably a concentrated throbbing in her sex that now demanded immediate attention.

She saw Kabbu’s eyes bright and shining with desire. And hunger.

And then he lowered his head and pressed his tongue against the sweetest part of her.

Vi instinctively jolted and let out an undeniable squeak as Kabbu lapped at her most sensitive parts. She wriggled madly, feeling his tongue make long, languid strokes across her core and then little flicks across the nub. He sucked and licked and set that fire to blazing. Each moan and sigh was rewarded with further kisses and tastings, each drawing out an increasing amount of pleasure. The pressure was building up inside her startlingly fast and she felt so wet. She would be embarrassed as all hell if she currently didn’t feel so amazing, claws unconsciously curling in on themselves, digging into the sheets. And judging by the sounds of Kabbu’s wings flickering and clicking and the deep, satisfied rumble coming from his chest, he must have been getting something out of it too.

Speaking of the beetle, the bee swore she could feel Kabbu grinning as he firmly held her legs in place and eagerly explored that area begging for release. Even if she could escape, there was no way she wanted to. More lapping and close suckling brought out ever more needy cries from Vi, having never felt anything this intense before, not even during her tentative, uncertain explorations of herself. It felt impossibly good.

“F-fuck, Kabbu!” she moaned. The beetle picked up his pace now, tasting every part he possibly could. He swirled his tongue around her most sensitive, throbbing spot and then repeatedly flicked at it, sensing its heat, tasting that nectar sweetness. Feeling Vi’s uncontrollable quivering as he pinned her down and listening to her get ever closer to the edge awoke something long dormant in the beetle. He wanted to please her, wanted to make her feel good. It would be a reward in and of itself. And it seemed that neither needed to wait long to experience the results.

He couldn’t insert any fingers; digging claws rendered that an inadvisable idea but there was nothing preventing the beetle from touching the outside. He pressed his fingers against her arousal and began rubbing faster than before. 

Vi whimpered desperately. She was mere inches away from her peak. She couldn’t take any more.

Kabbu leaned over to her side and whispered: “Finish for me.”

It was more than enough to reach her climax. 

She didn’t quite scream so much as let out a half-strangled cry, as if it was suddenly quite hard to take in the air. Her body shook as she rode out her orgasm, stronger than anything she had ever experienced before. She gripped Kabbu, claws digging into his shell, and let the white-hot pleasure wash over her.

Once it finally finished, Vi flopped back onto the pillows, panting for breath, feeling hot and sticky, and head buzzing with wonderful bliss.

“Uhhhh…” she began after a moment. Her mind seemed quite blank, more so than that first kiss. It was a struggle to string her words together. “I… uhhh…” Damn, when Kabbu put his mind to something, he always followed it through. She gazed at the beetle half-dreamily, suddenly feeling like the luckiest bug in existence. Through the haze though, she did notice something rather important that wasn’t there before. Oh. Well… it wasn’t as if she could blush any more. And after that experience just now, why be embarrassed?

Kabbu chuckled, apparently not noticing. She looked so ridiculously cute and beautiful when she was all flustered like this and fluff extra tousled. “No half-measures, right?”

“Look at you, Mr Confident all of a sudden…” Vi groaned, not even able to summon the energy to throw a pillow at him for his cheek. She took a minute to get her breath back and let her shaky muscles rest. “Still… that was kinda amazing. Thanks, Kabbu…”

“Haha, I’m glad you think so.”

“Yeah… I’ll give you an 8 maybe.”

Kabbu started. “W-wait, what do you mean an 8?” 

Vi wheezed with out-of-breath laughter as she managed to sit up. That beetle sure was full of surprises. “You’ve said on previous occasions that there’s always room to improve ourselves, right?”

“Me and my big mouth…” Kabbu groaned.

“Yeah, and you used it really well!”

Kabbu opened his mouth and then closed it again. He felt a deep warmth rise in his chest. It was uncanny really, how certain moments had ended up playing out in a very similar way.

“Huh? What?”

The beetle gave a tender smile. “Just memories.”

He didn’t need to elaborate further. Vi knew what he meant.

The bee shook some energy back into herself; they weren’t finished yet and she wanted to return the favour. “So… I guess I’ll do something similar to you, huh? I mean…” She glanced downwards, blushing again despite herself. “You kinda… uhhh… look ready for it?”

For a moment, Kabbu was quite nonplussed until he realised what Vi was looking at. 

His erection.

Despite having just eagerly brought Vi to climax, his immediate instinct was to hide his excitement, having never been entirely comfortable with his own body, and the thought of the constant, nigh-on painful arousal from the pheromones unwillingly skimmed past his mind. That shameful need and desire that he was unable to properly satisfy during his necessary confinement, his begging for it to just end, the disgust he held for himself during that period, the awful mixed cloud of emotions that he was unable to properly process, and the guilt that had always threatened to consume him whole. 

But he had come through to the other side and he could not have done it alone. He had friends. He had family. He had love. He had no reason to be afraid.

In the end, he took a deep breath and kept his hands on the bed, letting himself be stared at. This was different, he told himself. This was something he wanted. He was wanted. This was something he was allowed to have. To deserve.

“So, uhh, you ready?”

Kabbu nodded. “I am.”

They swapped positions and Kabbu made himself comfortable against the pillows whilst Vi sat before him. 

“I guess you should probably tell me how to do this, huh? Or how you like it.”

Kabbu ran a hand through her comforting neck fluff. “Perhaps like this…?”

As it so happened, there was little need for much guidance. And so, curious and interested to see what Kabbu’s reaction would be, Vi wrapped a hand around the beetle’s hard shaft and slid it down from the base to the tip and then back up.

Kabbu’s head immediately hit the pillow and he couldn’t stop the whine from escaping him. Vi repeated the action, stroking up and down, and watched as Kabbu’s lower half instinctively bucked upwards. He was throbbing hard beneath her touch and, as Vi did before, he felt his claws begin to curl of their own accord into the sheets which was just as well because the bee couldn’t quite hold the beetle down in the same way. Then a spasm of pleasure ran through his shell as he felt his tip being rubbed, feeling a certain sticky substance begin to leak out, and whatever inhibitions he had remaining vanished on the spot. 

“D-don’t stop,” Kabbu managed to gasp. Though muffled by lying on the bed, he could feel both his wings and elytra twitching madly. He tried his best to keep still and legs spread apart but it was proving difficult when it felt as if he was jolting with electric passion. The bee leant over him, one hand planted on his abdomen and her fluff gently tickling him, and the other working its magic. He closed his eyes, imprinting on his mind every touch that was currently driving him wild. He never wanted it to end.

Vi, though, had other ideas.

“Hmm, maybe I could do something else on top,” she said rather gleefully. “You know, kinda like what you were doing before.”

Kabbu reluctantly opened his eyes and took a few seconds to work out what Vi meant. And then he startled.

“Ah! Y-you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to! I-I don’t mind waiting for next time! I mean I wouldn’t mind it now, it would be nice, b-but I wouldn’t want to push you! I mean if—mmf!”

Sometimes it was best ignoring Kabbu for his own good.

Vi didn’t attempt to go all the way down for the time being but having the end of his hard member in her mouth was good enough. He tasted pretty close to what she had imagined him to taste like and in her personal opinion, decided that he wasn’t bad at all. And if Kabbu was feeling good before, then being sucked off now felt amazing. Being licked and tasted like this and with such evident enthusiasm… he probably wasn’t going to last much longer.

“V-Vi…” he whimpered. Now she was going especially hard, tongue swirling around his most sensitive point. “A-ah! Fuck!”

The throbbing was getting so intense, there was no way he would be able to stop himself.

“Vi! You d-don’t—ah! N-need to-to swallow! I-I—mmgh!”

The bee decided that she would probably heed the warning on this occasion and pulled back from him and not a moment too soon as Kabbu suddenly came. He slapped a hand over his mouth as he rode out his orgasm, filled with that short-lived but utterly wonderful moment of pure gratification.

Alas, his high could only last so long. Kabbu felt his limbs suddenly drained of energy and laid back, groaning.

Vi wiped her mouth and grinned. “Well, that was easy. And I made you say the bad word you tell me off for saying!”

“I think I can make exceptions…” He looked at her, feeling wonderfully blissful and happy. “I, ah, wasn’t expecting you to do that so soon though.”

She patted his belly. “Yeah, I know; that’s kinda why I did it. And you know me, I like trying different things. And I obviously did a great job at it, right? Because you looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

Kabbu smiled. Vi was so utterly… Vi. Her easy confidence was just so fascinating. “Yes, it was a great job. Thank you, Vi.”

She glanced up and down at his form, still unsheathed. “So we’ve come this far, yeah? Are we gonna do… you know? The actual mating part now?”

The beetle chuckled. She did say she wanted the full thing after all and she had been pretty patient all things considered. And he was also too excited to leave it just there, not quite fully finished yet even though the build-up had obviously been very satisfying by itself. “Just give me a little time to recover first.”

A couple of minutes was all that Kabbu needed. He effortlessly flipped their positions and now Vi felt Kabbu lying himself on top of her. His tough shell naturally made him somewhat heavier but the bee found herself not caring about that. She carried him through the air on a semi-regular basis for the sake of their missions which were quite taxing on her wings; this felt downright comfortable really.

She felt his hard member pressing against her and flushed a little. Then the beetle almost instinctively began to grind their parts together, eliciting pleased sounds from them both.

“Vi,” Kabbu groaned, the rhythmic motion almost hypnotic. Oh gods, she felt wonderful underneath him and there was a slickness between them both. He knew what her answer would be but it was only polite to ask. “Are… are you ready?”

“Yeah,” came Vi’s instant reply. “Yeah, dammit! I don’t want to wait any longer!”

Kabbu smiled and kissed her, feeling awash with desire. “I don’t want to wait any longer either. Just let me know if I need to adjust or anything, OK?”

He hummed thoughtfully. He was fairly confident that there would be no real difficulties given the similar size of their bodies. Longer horns meant smaller equipment elsewhere and all that, such as it was with certain types of beetles. It was a more agreeable arrangement as far as he was concerned. There were some who bragged about their size as if that was all that mattered, any fun build-up be damned, and honestly, that was just sad, not to mention how it smacked of arrogance. Besides, what was the point in being so large if you were liable to hurt your partner in the process?

No… this was so much better in every way possible. And he had been chosen for a second time. His heart had been captured for a second time. Truly, he was a privileged beetle.

And so, feeling his heart pound with excitement, Kabbu lined his body up. He finally pushed forwards and his tip entered Vi.

She automatically flinched as she took in Kabbu and tightened her grip around his waist. It didn’t hurt as Kabbu was being slow and gentle and she had been considerably well-prepared but it did admittedly feel somewhat strange regardless.

“Just relax for me, OK?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m not fragile, dammit! Just don't stop!”

Kabbu took it carefully as he entered further, gauging the bee’s reaction. After the initial contact though, she seemed fine; she would have definitely said something if it was truly uncomfortable or painful.

And so, wryly knowing that he would likely get told off if he lingered too long, Kabbu thrust himself all the way in.

They both let out gasps of surprise at the sensation, Kabbu now rooted as far as he could go. He shivered. Vi felt so wet and-and so good. Her walls were hugging him tightly and he could feel his cock throbbing with intensity, desperate to start moving. Vi, meanwhile, was preoccupied with how full she suddenly felt. It already felt hard forming coherent thoughts and the fire that had briefly been satiated after Kabbu brought her to orgasm flared up again.

After a brief pause in which he let Vi get used to the feeling of his length inside her, Kabbu pulled nearly all the way back out and then thrust back in again.

Both let out sharp cries of pleasure. They looked into each other’s eyes. 

They didn’t need words to share their thoughts.

Soon enough, they surrendered themselves wholly to the experience and connection. Kabbu set a rhythm going and he drove himself in and out, determined to hit the right spot with every motion, going as deep as he could possibly go. He buried his face into Vi’s amazing fluff, breathing in her amazing honey scent, and kissed and bit and left his mark. He could feel Vi’s claws digging into his shell and he was sure that she was probably going to leave scratch marks but he didn’t care about that in the slightest. The only important thing was the intense, exhilarating feeling of pleasure that they were both experiencing.

He groaned out loud as Vi squeezed him in all the right ways. He was getting quickly overwhelmed by the sensation of their bodies meeting together like this. She felt so warm, so tight, so perfect. The feeling, the everything, was indescribable.

Like Kabbu, Vi was making all sorts of sounds that weren’t words, moaning and squeaking in comparison to his softer huffs and grunts, though unlike Kabbu, she hadn’t formed the habit of attempting to keep herself quiet nor did she feel the slightest inclination in doing so, only rendered quieter when Kabbu’s mouth muffled her own, adding to the overall feeling of euphoric wonder. She gripped him as best she could even as she felt every part of her shaking, rapidly losing control of herself. And Kabbu was strong and was easily piledriving her into the bed which was creaking with his enthusiastic efforts. Every time he grinded his textured shaft against her walls, filled her up with his seed, she felt a lightning bolt of lustful joy course through her entire being. As before, that intensity raced to build itself up and she felt hotter than ever and utterly lost to the pure bliss happening to her. It was far better than she had ever imagined it to be.

The room was filled with the sounds of shared ecstasy. They embraced each other tightly, desperate to draw out their mating for as long as possible. It was clear that neither were going to last much longer.

“Vi!” Kabbu panted. His movements were more jerky now, past the point of coordination. He knew that he was not going to be able to hold himself back. He tried to voice a warning that he was about to break but Vi, completely unravelled by the beetle on top of her, ended up beating him to it, hitting her peak. She reacted much the same way as before, eyes squeezed shut, clinging to him tightly, never wanting to let go. In a moment, Kabbu felt his climax hit and he buried his face into that wonderful fuzz once more, stifling his absolute euphoria.

Of course, it had to come to an end eventually. Once they finally plateaued from their white-hot bliss, Kabbu pulled out and flopped down next to Vi, groaning with the effort. The room and bed now felt incredibly hot and both were silent as they lay there panting, completely out of breath.

Vi tried to say something but drew even more of a blank than before, still processing the entire, incredible thing, and basking in the wonderful afterglow. She then felt herself get drawn into Kabbu’s arms and the beetle softly rested his head against hers.

“Vi,” Kabbu said. “Thank you… for having me.”

“Yeah…” she managed to reply. “Yeah… you too.” She just about worked up the energy to pat him in a vague spot somewhere and then she noticed that his eyes were glistening. “Hey, uhh, are you… crying?”

He sniffled and couldn’t quite stop a few warm tears from running down his face. Being able to be intimate again, have a mate again, made his heart simply swell with pure happiness. “Sorry, I’m, um, just feeling emotional right now… but I’m… happy emotional?”

“You’re such a dork…” Vi replied affectionately as she returned the hug even though her limbs felt so tired and heavy. They stayed like that for some time, holding each other gently and feeling each other’s hearts starting to slow down. They let the peaceful calm wash over them and let the moment just be.

After a minute, Vi yawned, exhausted after such physical exertions. It was strange, she mused, that she should feel so drained when she was a seasoned, active adventurer who was more than physically capable of undertaking strenuous activities, not to mention that Kabbu was doing most of the work. Very enthusiastically at that. “Heh. It’s funny.”

Kabbu tilted his head as he wiped his eyes. “Hm? What is?”

“You,” she replied, poking him in the side or at least tried to, strength utterly sapped. “Kinda got a wild side to you, huh? I thought you would be all soft and gentle and stuff for the whole thing.”

Kabbu’s face was still flushed from exertion so it was quite impossible for him to blush any more. “I, uhh, wasn’t too rough, was I? I wouldn’t normally be that… uhh… that is to say, I-I just wanted to, you know…”

“Hey, you didn’t hear me complaining, did you?”

The beetle let out a breathless chuckle. “I guess not.” He yawned widely. “We better try and clean ourselves up a little before we both drop off…”

The pair, after a little struggle, managed to clean themselves up as best they could before crawling back into bed. They snuggled up against each other, feeling warm and content in all the best ways.

After one more shared kiss, exhaustion at last sent them both into a blessed sleep.

To Vi’s surprise, she was the first one awake that morning and, given the light peeking through the slats of the shutter blinds, it was already some time past their usual waking hour.

She glanced over at Kabbu. The beetle’s eyes were closed and he was lying on his belly in his usual position which was the standard way of sleeping for a hard-shelled bug such as himself. She listened to his rhythmic breathing and for a while, just watched his resting form. It was relaxing and nice, she thought, to see Kabbu so comfortable like this when his sleep was normally something of a struggle.

As she continued to gaze at Kabbu, she realised that her stomach was growling with hunger and there was something of a curious ache in the background, especially down below. She supposed it was not entirely unexpected given how hard they were going at it last night and she didn’t regret that in the slightest; she just could have done without the annoying after-effects, that was all. Still, nothing that a good breakfast and possibly some soothing herbal tea elevated with honey wouldn’t help. And apparently, one only experienced this kind of soreness for the first couple of matings or so, sooooooooooo…

She stretched her wings and groaned. Much as she still wanted to stay in bed, she supposed that she ought to get up and Kabbu needed to as well. She shook the beetle’s shoulder. “Hey, wake up, sleepyhead.” 

Kabbu, always a light sleeper, began to stir and after a minute or so, he turned to his side and, blinking his eyes, found Vi in front of his face. He smiled sleepily. “Morning, Vi.”

“Morning yourself. Sleep well?”

Kabbu sat upright and rolled his muscles. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept so well and felt so relaxed. He hoped he could capture that feeling many more times together with Vi in the future. “You know, I had a wonderful sleep. And I had a wonderful dream too.”

Vi raised her antennae and smirked. “Oh yeah? What kind?”

“Well,” he said with a secretive smile. “It involved us to start with, in a room like this one…”

“Oh. That kind of dream, huh?”

“Aha, maybe? But I did have a wonderful time last night. I'm truly glad we did it.”

Vi leant against him. She felt different in some way that she couldn't quite put into words but whatever it was, it felt good. "Yeah, same here."

Kabbu winced slightly as he shifted. “I think I did pull a muscle or something though. And I feel truly ravenous.”

“Uh-huh. Same here. But more than one muscle. Even my wings hurt. And in the obvious area. And my fuzz is stuck up everywhere.”

“Um… sorry?” Kabbu said meekly.

Vi lightly punched his arm. “You idiot. Anatomy’s just super weird and stuff. I’ll be fine but we’re absolutely not getting dragged into any crazy stuff or whatever today.” She felt her insides rumble again. “Ugh, Leif better not have cleared everything by the time we get down there.”

“I suspect we’ll be asked where we went off to last night,” Kabbu groaned. As he spoke, he noticed a note had been slid under the door at some point. Body complaining as he moved, Kabbu picked it up and showed it to Vi:

We assume you two went off and made your own entertainment last night. Hope you enjoyed yourselves. Don’t forget we said about visiting Venus after the festival. Get yourselves something to eat. We have ice if necessary. Don't wake us up if you're entertaining yourselves at home later; you have a proper room now.

Kabbu winced. “I’m going to assume Leif spotted us running off after all.”

“Ugh, it’s gonna be a pain in the stinger dragging ourselves up there!” Vi grumbled. “But I suppose we gotta.” She rubbed her face. “Damn! Everyone else is gonna be down there and you know what they’re gonna be like!”

Kabbu blanched. Oh, lord. There was going to be so many smug, knowing looks from their friends, wasn’t there? Leif, with his dry, acerbic humour, was probably going to be the worst of the lot, along with Delilah. The cheeky nudges, comments and innuendos were going to last for weeks.

He loved all of his friends though.

Vi finally stood up. “Well, it was gonna happen sooner or later, huh? I’m gonna go and wash and comb my fluff, yeah?” She gave a peck on the beetle’s cheek. “I won’t be long.”

Kabbu returned the favour. “Alright. I’ll do my cleaning after you.”

As Vi headed off to use their private facilities, Kabbu opened the blinds and felt the warmth of the sun on his face. The usual golden leaves drifted lazily downwards from the great tree. There was a slight breeze and the skies were clear, promising the delights of a beautiful day.

Venus’s statue stood tall and proud across from the inn. There were pink petals scattered around its base. The same kind of petals which, as Kabbu realised, were also resting upon their balcony and were currently swirling around his tarsi.

His life’s path had taken many strange twists and turns. Sometimes, he had wandered in the suffocating darkness alone when his heart was heavy with sorrow. But now there was a wonderful light. And his path had others alongside him.

Bit and his Master would be proud. After all, even if he couldn’t always see them, the stars that were their souls were always overhead.

A few minutes later, Vi returned, refreshed and ready.

“So,” the bee said. “After we’ve done all the stuff today, I guess we’ll head back home and then tomorrow we’ll do some requests. Easy stuff, nothing crazy, yeah?”

Kabbu took her hand and smiled. “I’d like that.”