Chapter 6:
All Abuzz
While Nameless and his bond-mates were enjoying their evening, Cordelia and Christine Loskins were languishing on the plush furniture in the main room of Queen Oldeera’s new hive in Algrade.
Unlike Oldeera’s previous hives, which had featured her bed rather prominently in the central bower, Cordelia insisted on some sort of living room.
Which was just as well; because she doubted that Christine would have set foot in any room her little sister was routinely having sex in.
Little did she realize…
Standing in contrast to the amber-like substance of the hive the trio of cream-coloured couches they lounged on formed three parts of a circle, with gaps between them to access the steps out of the sunken section in the middle of the domed room.
Though new to the city, the battle-hardened Hornets were a welcome addition in the eyes of the city council, and as such Oldeera was granted permission to construct her hive within the city limits, rather than amongst the slums surrounding it.
This worked just fine for both of the Loskins sisters, as its location essentially put them equidistant from Christine’s school and Cordelia’s work.
Under the light of solar lanterns salvaged from the hive in Kettering the sisters were taking it in turns to paint each other’s toenails, while Cordelia’s bond-mates spoiled them with rich chocolate, candied hazelnuts, and deliciously tart fruit juice.
“I have to say Cordy: when I imagined living in the city, this is not what I pictured.”
The older sister gestured around at the luxuriously appointed room with her freshly painted nails.
The wingless Hornet holding the tray of sweets for them absently leaned in and gave Cordelia a kiss on the side of her head, though she was careful not to jostle her as she saw to Christine’s feet.
Personally the mechanist in training found the whole affair to be a bit ridiculous as her fingernails would inevitably end up covered in grease, but she enjoyed spending the time with her little sister nonetheless.
Unlike her father, Christine wasn’t overly surprised when Cordelia showed up, hand in hand with Queen Oldeera, and announced that they had bonded. But it had still taken a while to get used to the monster girls’ affections for her younger sibling.
After all, up to that point she had thought that Cordelia wasn’t into girls like their other sister Helen was.
And she was even more flabbergasted when they said they wanted to move to the University City with her.
Cordelia finished the last dollop of polish on Christine’s pinky toe and leaned back to return the Hornet’s kiss, causing the monster to giggle.
“What, you don’t like chocolate anymore?” She said.
Christine shook her head vigorously as she snagged another piece of said chocolate from the tray before the Hornet holding it could get too distracted.
She popped it into her mouth with a happy moan before replying.
“No, but I expected to be living alone, or maybe on campus with a bunch of strangers.”
The wingless girl paused in her canoodling of her bond-mate to look at her with some concern.
“Are your quarters not to your liking, Princess?”
That was another thing for Christine to get used to; because she was related to the Hornets’ queen, in their eyes, she was royalty too.
Though despite any misgivings she had about the lofty title, she would forever cherish the look on her father’s face when they addressed him as ‘Your Highness’.
“No! They’re great! I love the extra space for my work. It’s just not what I was expecting, that’s all.”
To help accommodate her studies, the Hornets had already finished building a workshop for her at the bottom of the domed hive, though Cordelia had to all but order them to put in an entrance at ground level for her and her sister to use.
The Hornets were warriors and their hive was their fortress: in their mind a ground floor entrance was simply a weakness for their enemies to exploit.
The queen-of-their-queen gave a sniff.
“You think I was expecting this?” She popped another chocolate in her mouth for emphasis; “I was all set to marry some oaf like Brandon, and then maybe take over the bakery with Helen.”
There was a quick buzz that reverberated around the room as the Hornets heard the name of her ex-boyfriend.
They were most definitely not a fan.
Cordelia doubted Brandon would ever realize how close he came to death when Oldeera and her warriors found out about his behaviour behind the bakery.
That time she actually had to order them to spare the ignorant oaf’s life.
Before Christine could state her own opinion of the young man, the butt of a Hornet’s lance struck the floor with a sharp rap, making her jump.
“The queen returns!” She pronounced.
Moments later Oldeera and several of her girls flew into the hive from an entrance hidden above, setting down gracefully on the floor.
Cordelia leapt to her feet to waddle over to them after they landed, trying to keep from messing up her freshly painted toes.
A bit recklessly she tossed herself the last few feet, her hands going over Oldeera’s shoulders as the buxom monster pulled her close, more than up to the task of catching her enthusiastic bond-mate despite the cast on her arm.
Her wing had since healed from her recent tribulations, but broken bones took longer.
They shared a long, but relatively chaste, kiss while Christine studiously avoided looking at them.
“Am I the only one in the family who still likes dick?” She muttered under her breath.
But the ardent couple didn’t seem to hear her as they carried on with their intimate greeting.
“Mmmm, hello to you too. What time is your shift tomorrow?” Oldeera asked after they finally broke apart.
“Six! But Renny wants me to do more loaves this time because they sold so well, so I should go in a bit early.”
Christine smirked.
“I bet that you are the only queen in the land who works in a kitchen!”
Oldeera buzzed over and gave Christine a quick peck on the cheek by way of greeting and a hug with one arm, the chitinous armour covering her massive breasts pressing into Christine’s own formidable mounds for a moment.
But although the Hornet had bonded to her little sister, Christine still wasn’t quite sure where she stood with the regal queen.
“Your sister is very special.” The Hornet confided with a smile: “Though I certainly offered for her to remain here, to grow fat and happy as my sweets lavished her with chocolate and the finest delicacies in the world.”
She opened her mouth and one of the other Hornets immediately popped one of the little hazelnuts between her lips.
As her teeth crunched the sweet in her mouth she brought her shoulders up, wriggling them slightly in apparent delight.
“Mmm, scrumptious. But alas, my Queen would have none of it and insisted on... what did she call it?” She tapped her chin for a moment before snapping her fingers; “Ah yes, ‘earning her own way in the world’, whatever that means.”
“It means I don’t want to get fat.” Cordelia pointed out in a wry voice.
She had one arm around one of the returning Hornets who’s Antennae wiggled and wings buzzed at the attention and with the monster’s help she waddled back to recline on the plush divan.
Once more they settled in, this time with Oldeera taking over painting the toes of Christine’s remaining foot, despite her protestations.
It was one thing for her little sister to handle her bare feet, something else entirely for monster girl royalty.
But Oldeera merely poo-pooed her objections, and soon her tongue was in the corner of her mouth as she focused on making the older sister’s toes perfect.
Christine watched the queen work, Cordelia was sitting again, with her knees spread as the same Hornet as before likewise sat on the floor in front of her, blushing slightly while Cordelia happily took a brush to her wind-swept hair.
With the exception of their queen, the Hornets usually kept their hair short, but they had been letting it grow out at Cordelia’s insistence.
The entire hive relaxed a great deal with both of their queens safe and sound inside, though several of them still stood guard at each point of entry into the amber-like structure, particularly the ground floor one.
Christine didn’t know who would be crazy enough to storm a Hornet hive, but she wasn’t an idiot.
When Cordelia had properly introduced Oldeera to her family, none of them failed to notice the queen’s broken arm and wing, nor had they missed the bruises on Cordelia’s neck.
And while her father and Helen had both bought into her story of an ‘aerial mishap’, she knew something else was going on.
But for probably the first time in their lives, Cordelia would tell her nothing about it.
It was somewhat upsetting for Christine to have her volatile little sister confide in someone other than her. But she pushed such thoughts down: they were both growing up, and while she may often act like sex-incarnate, Queen Oldeera would always have her little sister’s best interest at heart.
Such was the nature of the bond.
Nonetheless it didn’t make it less awkward for Christine to have her sister’s pet tending to her toes, so she strived to find something to talk about.
“Hey, I feel kind of stupid for having to ask, but, how many Hornets are there in your hive anyways?”
Cordelia perked up at the question, her hand going still in brushing the Hornet’s hair.
“Yeah, I’ve wondered that myself, seemed a bit silly to ask at this point though. I’ve tried to count them but they’re always coming and going.”
Oldeera smiled.
“If you don’t know, then neither will our enemies.”
“But, I’m your bond-mate!” Cordelia protested with a hint of petulance in her voice.
“Yes, and someday you might be in danger, someone might try to make you tell them my numbers. But you can’t tell them what you don’t know honey.”
Both humans felt that the grave look on her face was undercut by her actions as the Hornet queen put the finishing touches on Christine’s last toe with a satisfied noise.
“There! All done! Now you look the part of a princess, though we really should get you a tiara...”
She winked at Christine but just as the older Loskins sister was about to thank her, the Hornet’s antennae began to wiggle and her eyes grew distant.
“Is... something wrong?” Christine asked awkwardly.
Oldeera blinked and shook her head.
“No, but it seems that we have a visitor, a somewhat distraught visitor actually.” She rose to her feet with all the grace of her station and turned to face the pouting Cordelia, now brushing a different Hornet’s hair; “Do you know a Lapine courier by the name of Rebecca?”
The young brunette pursed her lips, momentarily forgetting to sulk.
“Yeah, she’s really nice. I kind of gave her a standing invitation to come and visit us sometime. I figured she would have said something to me earlier though if she was planning on dropping by.”
One of Oldeera’s antennae quirked as she arched an eyebrow.
“We can ask her all about it in a few moments, my sweets are leading her in now.”
__________
Rebecca had torn through her meager collection of clothes, trying to find something, anything, for her date with Carol.
But the mature woman with her cherry red hair always wore nice clothes, even when overseeing her machine shop, it was one of the many things that both fascinated and intimidated the spunky bunny.
Rebecca didn’t have nice clothes to speak off, and the only thing close to ornamentation she ever wore were the simple earrings in her ears and her pink heartstone, a match for her eyes, but even that was hidden in another piercing through her tongue.
It was a somewhat common practice in a city like Algrade; if someone tried to steal her heart, she could quickly use her teeth to work it free and swallow it for safekeeping.
Not a pleasant outcome, but certainly better than the alternative.
And while the Lapine very muchly wanted to use her piercing on Carol, in her mind she couldn’t get there without the proper clothes. For one brief instant she considered trying to borrow something from her roommate, but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it came.
Then she remembered her new friend Cordelia.
Her Hornets were pretty intense, but so was the thought of going out with Carol looking like an ordinary courier.
She was out the door running for the hive almost as soon as she thought about the baker.
The Lapine arrived within minutes and after a breathless moment where Oldeera’s sentries communicated with their queen she was led inside.
Cordelia gave a little wave as the courier entered the room, taking only a moment to introduce her to her sister and bond-mate before diving right in.
“Alright Becks, what’s the trouble?”
“The trouble is I finally got that date I’ve been after but I don’t have any clothes!” She wailed in response.
“Really? You look fully clothed to me. Where’s the guy taking you?” Christine said carefully, having never met the Lapine before.
Rebecca cast her arms down at her attire, before waving one hand at her pierced ears and short dyed hair.
“She’s taking me to someplace fancy in the city proper, where I’ll stick out like a sore thumb!”
“She? Seriously, am I the only one in the world who likes dick?” Christine repeated her earlier complaint to no one in particular.
Ignoring her sister, Cordelia frowned at Rebecca.
“Why wouldn’t she take you someplace you’d be more comfortable? That’s kind of thoughtless of her.”
“Hey!” Becks protested with a whine before flouncing down next to the baker; “I really like her Cordy, she’s so much different than the losers I usually go for.”
Cordelia turned slightly on the comfortable couch, being careful with her freshly painted nails.
“Alright alright, well, I dunno, I have a nice lavender dress that might fit you. We’re about the same size, in the chest area.”
Christine smirked as she arched her back to push out her own breasts.
“One of the advantages of having big healthy tits, my poor flat-chested little sisters never stole any of my clothes.” She teased.
Cordelia rolled her eyes.
“Ha ha.”
Queen Oldeera, largely silent up till that point, sat down next to Christine and arched her own back, all but thrusting her breasts into her face.
“I’m sorry to say princess, but if we go by comparison, you’d hardly able to fill out any of my clothes.”
She had by far the largest bust in the room.
Christine turned pink and Cordelia laughed out loud, while even the agitated Rebecca let out a little giggle.
The baker hobbled to her feet.
“Come on, let’s get you sorted, I’ll need a bit of help though Oldeera, my nails are still wet.”
“Of course honey.”
The queen clapped her hands and several of her Hornets moved to assist the queen-of-their-queen in helping her friend prepare for her date.
__________
Barely an hour after Rebecca arrived at the hive in a panic the Lapine was sitting across from the most intriguing woman she had ever met.
The flickering little candle on the table cast Carol Reindel’s features in an intimate glow, the orange light dancing across her eye-catching cleavage in her low-cut silk blouse.
“I grew up in the slums.” The Lapine’s eyes widened in surprise and Carol was quick to elaborate; “Surprised? My father gave up on prospecting when he was very young and worked hard to keep me and my mother fed. It honestly never felt like we did without. It was thanks to him that I had a shot at more.”
Her eyes twinkled in the candle-light as she reflected on her past.
Mesmerized, Rebecca took another sip from her crystalline glass but then had to fight not to make a face.
Only that night had she discovered that she didn’t care for wine, her date had ordered it for them with their meal though and she was desperate to fit in at the fancy restaurant.
Playing with the lip of her own glass, Carol tilted her head to one side, her eyes hooded, mysterious, as she appraised the buoyant bunny girl.
“And how about you? Are you from the city?”
Rebecca nibbled on a steamed carrot stick from her plate and shook her head.
“No, I’m a country bumpkin!” She giggled nervously; “I came here originally to… find work.”
Her tone became subdued when she remembered the sting of her failure to acquire her dream job.
“What’s wrong?” Carol’s brow furrowed as she picked up the shift in the bunny’s mood.
“N-nothing.”
“Hey... you can talk to me, we’re friends now right?”
Despite the warmth in the older woman’s tone, Rebecca was too ashamed to admit that she had been in the city for three years now, and all she had to show for it were three rejection letters from the Aegis.
In fact, she had been seriously thinking about relocating to Garland, before a certain woman showed up in town...
“It really is nothing.” She shook aside her despondency and adopted a winning smile; “But wow! If you grew up in the slums, it must have been a lot of work to get out and into the world and be so successful! Why did you come back to the city?”
Carol’s frown relaxed as her focus shifted due to the bunny’s rapid subject changes and she waved her hands dismissively.
“It was time to come home. And the success was luck mostly. Right place, right time. Struck a few lucrative contracts out in Oakridge. That sort of thing.”
Becks was fascinated, she pulled her elbows up onto the table and propped her head up with one hand.
“So, I’ve never really been clear…” She began thoughtfully; “What is it that you do?”
Her date chuckled for a moment before explaining.
“I was in shipping for a long time, but the shop makes tools, mostly for excavations and the like. It was actually the shop my father worked at when I was a kid, so it was sort of for him that I bought it.” She shrugged, and for a moment the bunny’s eyes were again drawn to the cleavage spilling out of her shirt; “At least, his memory anyways.”
Carol’s paused as she took another drink of her wine, then she looked down at Rebecca’s elbow and bit back a grin.
Following her eyes, Becks discovered that when she had propped her arms on the table she had plopped one of her elbows in the otherwise untouched sweetened dipping sauce for her carrots.
And she had been doing so well.
“Oh no! I am so sorry!” She hissed to avoid drawing attention as she fumbled with her napkin.
She once more felt the fool as she blushed to the base of her now-flattened ears.
Carol couldn’t hold back her grin anymore as she laughed.
“Hey, it wasn’t my plate.”
“I-I know, but like, this place is so classy! I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
Her date’s chuckle turned dark.
“Sweetheart, I don’t embarrass easy. And the staff here is too well-paid to have opinions of their clientele.”
Rebecca frowned, there was something in Carol’s words that didn’t sound right, but she was too distracted with saving the sleeve of her borrowed dress to think about it.
She really hoped Cordelia wasn’t too upset with her.
“Are you alright?” Carol broke into her fretting with a raised eyebrow.
“What? I mean, yes! I just, this isn’t actually mine, and I don’t want it to stain.”
The corner of Carol’s mouth twitched, though whether it was with amusement or annoyance, Becks couldn’t tell.
“Well, I’m finished eating if you want to get it home and wash it.”
Torn with equal parts gratitude and regret, Rebecca nodded.
“Would that be alright? I’m sorry, we were having such a good time!”
She wasn’t.
Torture her with thumbscrews and she wouldn’t admit it.
Though eager to learn about the mature woman, she found that the expensive wine upset her stomach and the steamed carrots that Carol ordered for her were too mushy to help matters. She didn’t understand what was wrong with munching on them raw.
“Of course.” Carol nodded.
“Thank you! Here, do we just leave the money on the table you think? I have coins, we can split it.”
“Ah, no.” The dark-haired woman leaned in a bit, as if to tell her a sensitive secret; “You don’t pay like that at a place like this. Don’t worry, it’s already taken care of.”
Still fumbling to get the sticky sauce off of her clothes, Rebecca gnawed on her lip worriedly.
“Oh jeeze, I’m sorry. I’m really not used to-”
“It’s alright, come on, let’s get you home and out of that dress.”
The invitation was plain in Carol’s voice but her attempt at getting the evening back on track fell on deaf ears, the agitated rabbit too worried about the numerous social sins she had unknowingly committed in the last two minutes.
“Yeah, I don’t know if this stuff will stain or not.”
A half hour later the Lapine was standing with her back to her door, shell-shocked at what had just happened.
Only now, out of Carol’s company, did she recognize the cues that the woman was practically spoon-feeding her.
Right up until Rebecca had shut the door in her face the cherry-haired woman was flirting and hinting at the possibility of coming inside and maybe even staying the night.
“Becks? Is that you?”
She didn’t answer right away, her mind whirling at the missed opportunity.
“I don’t know.” She finally answered as her roommate poked her head out of her room in the loft they shared; “I’ve never been such an idiot before, so no. Can’t be me.”
Sandra was actually her fourth roommate since moving to Algrade. A student at the university, the somewhat chubby girl largely kept to herself.
Tonight was no exception: seeing the potential for some sort of emotional scene from the Lapine, she gave a jerky nod of her head.
“Right, that’s good. Um, I have a morning class, so keep it down if you can?”
She disappeared from view, not quite slamming her door, but almost.
Rebecca slowly slumped to the floor, her back still to the door as she sat.
“Yup, wasn’t me.” She finally groaned and covered her face with both hands.