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edales-drabbles · 5 years

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Hive is Home Drabble 3 pt 2

Summary: Espers are people with powers. Some are good and some are not so good. Ervin is from a family of adopted Espers who work as heroes but lives in his own city attending university. Then he gets hurt on a mission and the 'villains' are now going to have to deal with his family. Including the guy he actually likes. Joys.

Follows directly after three, so I called it Pt 2

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In the middle of the night, Smiles started coughing. Waking up both Ervin who was in the same bed and Nelson who had made himself a chest on the floor next to it. Nelson didn’t want to leave Ervin with a hive member while the others didn’t know he was here. The coughing got worse and the two crows quickly got Smiles to the bathroom before he started to throw up. Nelson rubbing his back gently and Ervin looked on concerned.

“When I said I didn’t want to tell them you caught pneumonia, I was serious, you know,” Ervin half teased.

Smiles glared at him from the toilet bowl, dark sudden bags under his eyes. Like this, it was easy to see how slight Smiles actually was. Without his makeup and signature outfit, it looked human. He even acted like it. “This is not good,” he rasped, his voice not quite ready for him to speak.

“Who’s this?” Kane asked, appearing next to the door. “And why are they throwing up?”

“Smiles. The Hive subconscious sent him to complain about the state of things and he got stuck hanging outside my window into the rain. Now he’s ill,” Ervin explained calmly as Smiles hacked into the toilet again, Nelson making reassuring noises. “I was hoping he could leave today but I’m not sure we can send him off in this state,” he exhaled, running a hand through his hair. Their father was not going to be happy with this.

“Ah,” Kane nodded. “I’ll tell the others. Rue is grabbing the first aid kit at the moment. We’ll avoid Dad knowing for now,” he promised, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe confidently.

“Thank you,” Ervin smiled gratefully at Kane. It happened from time to time that an enemy or a friend needed their assistance and bringing Darkstalker it would only make the matters worse. The crows were used to hiding strays in their rooms. Sometimes it even worked. Most of the time it was more an exercise in keep-away as Darkstalker got more suspicious with them.

“Hear that, Smiles? You’re safe here for now. Until Dad sniffs you out at least,” Nelson said cheerfully as Smiles groaned in pain, clutching his rib. Ervin grimaced in sympathy. Throwing up that hard like that had to sting.

“And I found the supples,” Rue declared, pushing through Ervin and Kane into the room with a large box. He knelt down by the ill man and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. “Who am I treating today?” He asked as he flushed the toilet and took Smiles wrist to check his pulse. Smiles didn’t fight the treatment, looking about to collapse. He was sweating and his skin was quickly starting to look more green than white.

“I thought you two fought?” Ervin frowned.

“It’s Smiles,” Nelson added. “To be fair, they met once and Smiles was all done up, Dimshit” He added giving Ervin the side-eye. “Most people don’t know what their enemies look like without their masks.”

“Ah, I see,” Rue said cheerfully. He checked the thermometer as it beeped and frowned. “Not good. Any higher and I’d be taking you down to the hospital. Ok. Let’s get you back to the bedroom. Nel, grab a bucket. Kane, go start the vine and Ervin, go connect hive before they get worried,” Rue ordered sharply. All three men jumped into action and Ervin quickly scurried away to Rue’s room. It was the one with the most privacy and less likely to be overheard.

The phone barely rung two beats before Torleif was answering. “Blackbird!” He called in his normal gusto. “Please tell me you’re calling to discuss terms for coming back? Grace is lonely with you gone and Kerrim is being mopey too.”

“Not yet,” Ervin said calmly, pushing away his feelings regarding Kerrim. If Kerrim wanted to talk to him, he was only a phone call away. He still had Ervin’s phone number after all. Not to mention his email. There were ways to contact him. He pushed it all away, focusing on the slightly desperate question regarding his return. “Dad’s still upset but said he will consider it. Soon hopefully. Give it a week? Just, if he contacts you don’t mention the condition you originally gave me. He won’t like it.”

“Frustrating but fair,” Torleif sighed. “The Hive accepts waiting a week. We will avoid talking about terms and conditions to him. Why have you called then?” He asked, slipping in and out of the hive network fluidly.

“Smiles,” Ervin said in one word.

“Was an accident,” the Hive winced.

“I know,” Ervin reassured. “I got that from the whining. Thing is, he got stuck outside in a rainstorm and now is ill. We are going to hide him from Dad for now but his temperature is high. We’ll look after him, of course. If it gets too high, we’ll take him to a hospital. Are there any side effects from being Hive we should know about?” He asked as it suddenly occurred to him.

“Damn. Right. Er,” Torleif and the hive merging in panic and then separating in the same voice. “No side effects from hive normally. May feel more with no Queen to focus on to. Please don’t take him to a hospital. Smiles hates hospitals. Keep us informed?”

“Feel more?” Ervin questioned, frowning.

“Emotionally,” Torleif clarified. “The net has a calming effect for the most part. When we are hurt or ill, it keeps us grounded but Smiles won’t have that. Ah, here she is. Have Grace,” he said cheerfully.

“Hello?” Grace’s voice said uncertainly on the phone, not sure who was about to speak to on the phone. Ervin rolled his eyes.

“Hey Gracie, how you doing?” He said gently sitting on Rue’s bed lightly.

“Ervin!” She said surprised and very happy to hear his voice. “Weirdly? I’m struggling with some things and not with others. The other Wasps are nice. It’s easy to see how you made a working relationship with them. How’s Dad reacting?” She added in a low voice like she didn’t want Torleif to hear her asking. He would. Wasps had enchanted hearing.

Ervin made an unhappy noise, not sure what to tell her. “Better than when Kane went off the rails. You’re still considered family,” he reassured.

“Well that’s one good thing,” she mused unhappily. Ervin could practically hear tears welling up in her eyes and he smiled sadly, wishing he could do more for her. Darkstalker had always been very clear that he would do everything he could to protect them but if they got captured by something like hive, they were on their own.

“You know Dad’s temper. I’m working on getting back out there as soon as possible, I promise. Alger is helping too. Nelson is being Nelson but hopefully, I’ll convince him soon. We aren’t going to abandon you. I promise.” Ervin reassured.

“I know,” Grace murmured. “I have to go. I’m being tested at the moment. They want me to go to university while I’m in my adjustment period,” she frowned. Grace had never seen the point of going to higher learning. The job they did was not one that allowed for a stable job and in her eyes was more important than that. “I explained that I’m no academic by nature but they seem to think they can find something for me.”

“There is always something,” Ervin chuckled. She made an uncertain noise and he laughed loudly. “We love you, Gracie. Stay strong,” he murmured warmly to her.

“That was part of the problem,” she said mournfully.

“Hey Blackbird,” a familiar voice came on next. Kerrim. Ervin shifted, pulling Rue’s blanket close and wrapping himself up in the smell of his brothers. He was safe here. He was at home. Kerrim was back with the Hive.

“Hey, since when do you call me blackbird?” Ervin asked, unhappily. Blackbird was not his alias, as much as Torleif and Smiles seemed to think so. Kerrim had never called him by that name. He didn’t like it from Kerrim. It felt wrong. That wasn’t their relationship, that was something being forced.

There was a snort. “Since the hive is investing in us patching up,” Kerrim said unhappily. “They are sure that me calling you by pet names will help.”

“I’d prefer not. I don’t actually like the nickname, ignoring from Tor and Smiles. They are fond with how they say it. Most use it insulting. You never did,” Ervin trailed off. “Don’t.”

“We need to talk,” Kerrim stated.

“When I get back,” Ervin said firmly. “We are not doing this over the phone.” Not with so many people listening in, he added mentally. Kane was nearby, he could sense it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Nelson was also hiding somewhere. The Hive was unavoidable but Torleif didn’t have to be there for the play by play. Jayiana wouldn’t care one way or another.

“The Hive would prefer…”

‘“I’m sure the Hive would but I’d prefer not. Either wait or come here and book a place we can meet up. Not over the phone,” Ervin said firmly. “This is between you and me, Kerrim, not the Crows and the Hive.”

“Everyone listening in?”

“Would it be surprising?”

“I suppose not,” Kerrim said sounding bemused. Ervin smiled as he heard Torleif complaining in the background. The line between a Wasp and the Hive was a bit grey at times but it was there. The Hive couldn’t force a relationship. Kerrim had upset Ervin, Kerrim was the one who had to make it up to him. “In-person then,” he murmured. “I’ll see what I can do. We don’t want Kerrim to be independent for something emotional.”

“He needs to be if you are going to prove his feelings are his own and not Hive,” Ervin pointed out.

“There is no difference.”

“Once the Hive has what you wish from me, you will put me aside. He will not if he has his own feelings,” Ervin challenged. “And no, I don’t think you will abandon me. I think you will treat me like a contractor. He will stop being a friend because he does not need to be. I don’t want that.”

“We disagree but accept the premise,” the Hive declared unhappily before pulling away. Kerrim breathing harder for a moment. “My feelings are my own, I can separate them,” he murmured softly. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Talk to you soon,” Ervin said back before switching off his phone and falling back in the covers. He didn’t have to wait long for Kane and Nelson to surround him. Rue was guarding slash treating Smiles. It was safe to fall apart for a moment and let his brothers look after him. He closed his eyes and buried his face into Kane’s chest as Nelson hugged him from behind.

#slash #slash fiction #fiction #my writing #story snippet #superhero x villian #frenemies #drabble

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ravager-life-for-me · 7 years

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Aim to Fire - Chapter 2

Summary

Shooting trees and such is all fine and good, but you ask Peter to shoot an innocent animal? Well, that's not gonna fly.Yondu tries to teach Peter how to use a blaster and it all sort've goes to shit, as these things do.

Chapter 2: Target Practice

Mondar is, as with most of the moons out in this quadrant, a piece of shit rock infested with Orloni, just like the piece of shit rock Morag where they originated from. The whole belt was crawling with them. The Eclector had been fumigated every other month, but they just came back like tides in an ocean. They were, if anything, the proverbial cockroach of the galaxy.

And, just as it happened, Orlonis were great target practice.

Yondu parked them in a small clearing, a little grove cut out of the wide forest that captured most of the moon’s surface. Peter sat up on his lap, staring over the control panels at the wide view of the moon.

“It’s…” he said, a little breathless before he finally choked out, “It’s just like Missouri!”

“Ya sound disappointed,” Yondu said, starting to scowl.

“No! No!” Peter hopped off Yondu’s lap and scurried up the port-side window, pressing himself flat against the glass. “No, it just.” Even though he had his face smashed against the window, Yondu could hear some of the sadness creeping into the Terran’s voice. “It reminds me of….”

He was going to say “home,” sure as the central sun was hot. But he didn’t. Peter just stared out at the trees as they finished with their landing, securing the M-ship’s feet to the soil and bouncing their coordinates back up to a nav team on the Eclector. Everything looked so much like the forest outside Peter’s home, the one where his mother would take walks with him and tell him all the stories of his father, the angel that came down from the stars. Course he’d never really believe it, but his mom always called him Star Lord and he held onto that name tighter than he did his precious Walkman. Peter sniffed and blinked back any tears he might have let slip out if he wasn’t careful.

“Alright, boys, let’s go.”

Yondu released the hatch and the air hissed as atmosphere began to leak into the ship. Peter had a brief fear that the air would be toxic, that it’d burn in his lungs and he’d fall to the floor dead before anybody could help him. He started to hold his breath as the Ravagers sauntered back down the plank, Yondu clicking over at the octolops twins. But it was a passing fear, because Peter couldn’t hold his breath forever. He gasped, sucking in big mouthfuls of the rainy, ozone flavored air. Kraglin had waited at the edge of the ship and watched him with a careful eye, the edge of his mouth twisted up in a knowing smirk.

“You comin’, Pete?” Kraglin asked after Quill caught his breath.

“Yeah, yeah,” Peter answered, and jogged after him. “What’re we shooting anyhow?”

“Nothing, ‘till you learn everything there is about this blaster,” Yondu answered and slapped a big u-shaped tool against his chest. “First, we’re taking that apart. Then, we’re putting it back together. And then, after I’m sure you won’t cook yer own flesh with it, I’ll let you shoot.”

“Really!” Peter squinted his eye and held up the blaster, focusing it on a nearby tree before Yondu clamped down on his arm, squeezing Peter’s wrist until it hurt and he let go of the blaster.

“What I just say, Boy?” Yondu asked in his raspy voice. “You best learn now, you aim to fire. This ain’t a toy, son.”

“Okay,” Peter said, twisting his wrist to get free. But Yondu held on a moment, staring him straight on until Peter finally stopped squirming. He looked up at the captain and, solemn as he could muster, he said again, “Okay.”

“Alright.” Yondu dropped his hand. He flicked a thin metal rod with a sharp hook towards Peter’s head, who ducked in time and watched it sail by. “Now pick that up and bring it over here. Yer gonna need it to get the kerrim bolt out.”

Yondu gave two curt commands to the octolops twins, jerking his head towards the trees and making a quick swirling motion with his finger pointed at the ground. They nodded and went off to do whatever the captain had ordered them to do.

It seemed to drag on forever as Yondu and Kraglin stood over him, shouting out instructions on taking the blaster apart, putting it together, arguing on how best to load it and who was a better shot anyhow. Kraglin was only teasing, Peter thought, being a little more pushy now that they weren’t around the crew. And Yondu let him, which was maybe even more strange. They shoved at one another, picking up a piece and naming it, asking Peter to repeat, which he tried. He only got hit on the back of his head once when he prepped the blaster and almost sizzled Kraglin’s foot with an errant blast.

“Well, stop talking over each other!” Peter yelled. He sat down with a huff and crossed his arms.

“Don’t pout, Boy,” said Yondu, rolling his eyes. He crouched down too and picked up the blaster, turning it over a few times. “You did that pretty quick. Show me one more time and then you can really shoot it, how ‘bout that?”

“Really?” Peter asked, hopeful.

“He does, I’m standing over by the ship again, sir. You know what? I’ll be on the ship, how’s that sound?” asked Kraglin, holding his hands above his head like they had the blaster trained on him.

“Fine by me, Krags,” said Yondu with another roll of his eyes. “Check and see if we got any rations aboard, too. And keep one damn grubblin bowl for me this time, alright, ya toothpick.”

Peter made a face at the thought of a bowl of big wet pale pinkish grubs rolling over each other in a frenzy.

“Alright,” said Yondu, handing the blaster over. “One more time. Show me.”

Peter took a steadying breath, looked down at the blaster, and disassembled it without dropping anything. He didn’t have to fight with the ionized dual round crystalizer, he didn’t misplace the kerrim cross bolt, or have any other possible mishap. It came undone and he lined up the pieces in the dirt just like Yondu had showed him. The Centaurian looked on, nodded once, and told him to put it back together. Peter clipped it into place, one after the other after the other, until the blaster was complete. He held it out to Yondu who took it, twirled it once in his hand, and shot over Peter’s head. The blast left a smoking hole in the trunk of one of the trees.

“That’s good,” Yondu said and gave a big, toothy grin. “That’s how ya do it. We’ll start on a basic setting. Take it and try to fire through that ring I gave ya.”

“Okay,” Peter said, just giddy as he took the heavy blaster back and pivoted on his heel, facing the tree that Yondu had fired at.

Kraglin made a croaking noise and went over to the ship, just as he promised. That meant that it was only Peter and Yondu out in the clearing. The wind was low, rustling through the pine-like leaves of Mondar’s forest. Peter squared himself, feet planted, and he lifted the blaster up with a straight arm, holding it with both hands as he focused on the spot. He started to close one eye like he’d seen in movies back on Earth when Yondu crouched down next to him.

“Both eyes,” said Yondu, lining up Peter’s shot. “You close one and someone’s gonna come up on ya and brain you. And hold it like this, see, steady it with yer left there so it doesn’t buck. It will, yer a damn twig, but it’ll help with the kick. Watch out fer that.”

Yondu put his hand on Peter’s wrist then, holding it there, more gently than he had before. They both stared over at the smoking hole in the tree, trails of it wisping away in the wind. Peter breathed, imagined all the pieces he’d put together, their use. Everything Kraglin and Yondu had said over the hours or so they’d been on the moon. He looked at the hole, he aimed, and fired.

The blaster kicked back just as Yondu said it would, but because his hand was there to absorb some of it, the blaster didn’t shoot back and crack Peter in the nose. Peter dropped his hands and looked out, hoping for another set of scorch marks close to Yondu’s. It was hard to see but they were just barely there, grazing the left of the tree. Another hole bored into one of the trees in the distance. It was sloppy. The blaster had bit a crescent-shaped chunk out of the trunk. Another stiff breeze would knock it over any minute. Peter’s shoulders sagged at the sight of it.

“Hey, look at that!” Yondu said with a shout and clapped Peter on the shoulder. “Pretty damn close.”

“Close?” Peter asked and cocked his head. “No! I missed, see? It’s all the way over there.”

“Line yer sight up there, Boy, you’ll see it’s close, like I said. Come on, line her up. Right, just like that, ya square yer shoulders, okay, got yer eyes on the target and ya feel it then.”

“Feel it,” Peter repeated back and took a steadying breath. “Just like the Force.”

“Sure,” Yondu said and shrugged. “Gonna have some force, I s’pose, but it just takes practice.”

Peter nodded and held the blaster just like Yondu showed him before he whispered, “I’m a Jedi.”

He fired again.

This time the shot zapped by the right side of the tree. It was closer; singed some of the bark next to the Yondu’s shot. Peter watched it sizzle away and shook his head before he lined it up and shot a third time, blasting a centimeter or so below the target.

“Hey!” he said and spun around, smiling from ear to ear. “Did you see!”

“I saw, son,” Yondu said and felt himself grinning right back. It was damn infectious to see the Terran light up. “Not bad. But that there’s not a moving target. Won’t be pillars and walls yer aiming for in a dog fight.” Yondu cupped his mouth and shouted back at the M-ship parked nearby. “Hey! Where them twins? I told ‘em to be back here soon as they could!”

“I’ll ping ‘em back, Captain,” Kraglin shouted from the open hatch of the M-ship.

“You got them fetching something?” Peter asked.

He’d lowered his arms so they might rest a little. The blaster was getting really heavy and he was afraid his arms would start to shake if he tried to hold it up longer.

As if on que, the twins came out of the forest, their arms laden with a mess of wriggling creatures. They looked at first glance to be hairless rats, almost scaly with big teeth snapping and their long tails hanging around Umber and Zu’s arms. Each octolops was carrying three Orlonis, which was no easy task. They nodded at Yondu, who waived them over and picked out an Orloni from Umber’s arms.

“There we go. And a nasty little bugger too. Ya see those teeth on ‘im? Getting’ real long. Betcha he’s sired millions a critters out there.” Yondu laughed as the Orloni squirmed in his grip, trying to get enough purchase so it could sink said long teeth into his hand. “And ornery too! This’ll work fine, just fine.”

“Fine for what?” Peter asked, looking a little pale. “You want me to shoot that thing? Yondu, oh my god, I’m not going to shoot a rat!”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because!”

“Cause why?” Yondu emphasized, leaning over the Terran.

“Because!” Peter said again and finally dropped the blaster. “I’m not gonna shoot it, Yondu, I swear. I’m not killing it.”

“What you think I had you learn how to shoot a blaster for? You think it was just to blast holes in a tree?”

“No,” Peter said slowly, drawing out the vowel as he started to inch away. He kept his eyes on the Orlonis in the octolops arms, looking more uncomfortable by the second. “No, I just. I don’t wanna kill it, okay? Okay?”

“Not okay,” Yondu said and reached for the blaster. He chucked the Orloni out in the field and blasted it before it hit the ground. The carcass splattered, leaving small chunks of burning flesh in the grass. Not much, of course; it’d been mostly blown away by the shot, but Peter could smell it and he gagged at the sight. “It ain’t that hard, Boy. Like I said, you aim to fire and you go and shoot it dead ‘fore they shoot you. You best learn that now. You think anybody’d hesitate to shoot you? Cause they wouldn’t. Hell, they’d eat you without a second glance. You know that, Boy. So take this blaster and practice shootin’ one of these damn rats!”

“No!” Peter shouted.

He grabbed the blaster and threw it to the ground, even going so far as to kick dirt at it. He almost swung at the captain. When he did, Kraglin was coming out of the M-ship, running over to intervene best he could. Yondu had reached out to snatch Peter’s flailing arm but the Terran took off into the woods, his red leathers flashing on his back before that too started to disappear in the shade of the trees.

“Pete!” Kraglin yelled like a demanding parent after their spoiled brat of a kid. “Pete, y’best come back here and—”

“Ah, let ‘im go,” Yondu growled, looking down at the blaster in the dirt.

“But, sir, he—”

“Let it go, Krags.”

Kraglin huffed, put his hands on his skinny hips as he watched the trail that Peter had taken into the woods. Mondar was a small moon. It’s not like he’d get far or nothing. The first implant they’d put on him was a simple translator device, but the Doc had helped them upgrade Peter’s chip once he was onboard the Eclector and, with it, implanted a tracker as well as the biometric read. Yondu could pull him up on a data pad if they were real worried about him. Instead, he picked up the blaster and brushed it off with a slow, deliberate trail of his hand. Same one that Peter’d bitten, too. There was a tiny half-moon scar close to his thumb. Yondu looked at it before he clicked a response to the octolops, who dropped the litter of Orlonis and stepped back. Umber clacked to his brother, who helped herd them back into the woods.

“Shoulda shot the whole fuckin’ pack,” Yondu muttered, and headed back to the ship. If they were gonna wait for Peter to cool off, he was gonna eat.

“Shoulda shot him,” said Kraglin to the woods, but Yondu glared up at him and he bowed his head, offered a softer, “sir,” and followed him into the cabin of the M-ship.

Peter pumped his legs as hard as he could while running through the woods. He didn’t care if he smacked head first into a big ugly creature and got torn to shreds, as long as he was away from Yondu, the blaster, and the pack of Orlonis that he was meant to shoot. They’d done nothin’ wrong. They were just going about their lives when those stupid octolops boys picked them up and carried them off to their deaths. And Yondu! Yondu shot it! Without even looking! Peter skidded to a halt in the middle of another clearing. He collapsed to his knees, huffing for air. Was his throat constricting because he’d run? That’d never happened before. Maybe it was because he was on a moon and he just wasn’t as used to the air as he thought. Maybe it was because he kept replaying that shot over and over in his head, watching the Orloni explode in a mess of blue light and guts.

It was so, so easy.

Peter punched the ground. He closed his eyes, grimaced at the sight that played there, and punched again. And again. He started striking it with both his fists as hard as he could, pounding small divots into the soil. Again. Again. Again! A—

Yondu chucked his empty dish of grubblins into the refuse shoot where it was burned up on contact. Kraglin, lounging in one of the chairs nearby, watched his captain muttering to himself, something he never did on the ship with all the other Ravagers near. He was frettin’ over his little Terran. And it weren’t fair to see his captain fret. Kraglin nodded, chewing on a piece of rubbery grubblin before he reached over for the data pad, swiping through for Peter’s biometrics. He was about to flash it over to Yondu to show him it was all going to be fine when he choked on his spit.

“What’s up with you, Krags?” Yondu asked facing the refuse shoot. He gripped the counter until his blue knuckles were a frosty color. “Forget how yer tongue works?”

Kraglin stamped his feet back on the ground and started up the M-ship engines, punching commands as he rotated another screen near him, looking for the engine trail flitting away from Mondar.

“What the hells you doin’?” Yondu wheeled on him, grabbed him by the shoulder as he glared down at the data pad. “You tell me what got you so—”

“Peter,” Kraglin said and turned an orange display up towards his captain. “Peter’s gone.”

“Gone?” Yondu squinted at the screen. He gritted his teeth, clamping down so hard that Kraglin expected to see blood. “Shit. Shit! Who’s signature?”

Kraglin poked the screen until the ghost display of a warbird Haderfasti ship popped up. The bright colors burned in the display. “D’spar. They used one of their little bug snatchers to get to the surface. Didn’t see it from the air. That means…sir, y’don’t think that—”

“Think I do,” said Yondu and stomped out of the M-ship as Kraglin finished prepping it.

He whistled, low and sweet like syrup as the Yaka arrow twisted out of its holster and started dancing in a lazy arc around his head. When his foot touched the ground he whistled again through his teeth and the arrow shot out, zipping straight for Umber and Zu’s heads. The tail started to spark, driving it faster until it stopped short of their big black eyes.

“We picked you up from Haderfast, y’said you were the last ones left,” said Yondu, his fin rippling with red light. “Said you was abandoned there. Whole place bombed to shit. And here I think a couple o’ orphans. Couple o’ strong boys like you. I bring you onto my ship. I bring you into my crew! Never had octolops here, but figured you stick to the Code, you do us right. But I know where your kind fall. And you led D’spar’s men right to us, didn’t you?” Umber grabbed Zu’s hand, shaking his head frantically as his twin shrank back. “Didn’t you!”

<<No>> Umber chirped, his beak clacking up and down. <<We didn’t do anything like that, we swear.>>

<<We never heard of D’spar. We’ve only known the Haderfast nest. We were but battle fodder then>> said Zu just as fast, wrapping his skinny little scarred-up arm around his brother’s. <<Before the explosion, they had us down in the tunnels. Said we had to run and get ammunition. We swear, Captain!>>

<<We swear>> Umber repeated. <<Sure the rest of the slaves had to be at the cannons.>>

<<The cannons. They were, they had to be. We swear>> said Zu, nodding. All eight of his eyes were glassy.

“You swear,” said Yondu and pursed his lips, his nose wrinkling uncomfortably. “You swear.” Yondu tongued the edge of his fangs before, eyeing the shaking octolops. Then he growled, a low, mean threat of a sound before he whistled again. The twins jumped, shutting their eyes, but the Yaka arrow just zipped back into Yondu’s holster. “You wanna swear, you help me get that Terran back. Had you hear to keep an eye out! The hells you even good for!”

He raved at them, spoke to them in their tongue when he was tired of yelling, and herded them back to the M-ship. Umber and Zu scrambled over one another to get into the ship, Yondu right on their heels like a fiery arrow.

“Get us back to the Eclector,” Yondu shouted as Kraglin tapped a button to close the hatch. The octolops twins, still wrapped up in each other’s arms, took a seat down below deck, afraid that if they stepped up to the bridge, the Captain would put the Yaka arrow through their eyes. “And have Nav get their sights on D’spar’s trail. That fuckin’ Haderfasti slave tradin’ jackass. They wanna steal from us? Thievin’ like that comes with a price.”

#Aim to Fire #gotg fanfic #Yondu Udonta #Peter Quill #Kraglin Obfonteri #well now you went and got yourself kidnapped like a prime idiot #ravagers and all that

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sasster · 6 months

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How do you know 'em, Kerrim?

"It's the craziest thing. I left some Faygo out in the sun for a couple days and they just.. Grew out of the bottle.

That's why you won't catch me drinking the stuff, no way. What if a Persep grows in me?"

#kerrim #roetrolls #askter

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sasster · 1 year

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Hiiii Aeivas!!!! I’m back!! If I may ask some more questions…. Will you tell us about a bloodline with powers that you find really interesting? One of your favorites to learn about perhaps

“Oh look, it’s the small fry that opened the door for everyone to come into my study today.”

>He’s obviously not bothered by it. He’s just poking fun at you.

“You’re all so good at asking questions too.

I’ve been particularly fascinated with the Roatus bloodline. They have interesting powers, gifted spiritually or otherwise, that are so completely random from one another.

Take the Lycaons for example — They certainly get a powerful set of voodoos passed along their line. But it’s easy to guess if someone is born a Lycaon, there’s nearly a one hundred percent chance that they are going to have that manipulation power.

It’s a safe bet, even. Dominant gene regardless of who they’re mixing about with.”

>He gestures widely now, his excitement is almost palpable in the way he moves to grab the tablet that you assume contains information about the Roatuseseses.

“You know the Yumeno’s also have a consistent theme with manipulation. The Ringleader’s umbrakinesis and Kerrim’s… Puppetry.

They’re different but there’s a clear theme! You know what to track.”

>Aeivas opens up the tablet and starts to scroll through it.

“The Reverend’s necrotic touch and zombification powers you might think has a common thread with The Restorer’s Life Creation and Animation powers.

You could think that. It’s a safe line of thinking! But then!”

>He laughs, a little breathless.

“Arkiro Roatus is hatched and he manipulates space. He can tell the universe that this things gravity should be different, it shouldn’t exist at all sometimes!

He can bring places to his location so that he can also exist within them at that moment. But nothing is actually moving he folds space for a brief moment in time but not really don’t be silly!

And there is.

No. Logic. Behind. It.

It doesn’t make sense.

Complete spatial manipulation. From necrotic touch and animation.

It’s fascinating.”

#aeivas #roetrolls #askter

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sasster · 2 years

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also fmk the "wtf is that thing" descendants

kerrim persep weasel

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sasster · 4 years

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(kerrim was sprited by @brinytrolls)

Your name is … Wait a minute, don’t we know you?

What’s going on here? Yeah, yeah. You were that kid that wanted to be the “biggest bestest” subjug this side of Alternia. They grow up so fast. Well, I suppose that was six sweeps ago. Though, you don’t look very “biggest” to me -- Ew, don’t smile at me like that. Carrying on!

Your name is Kerrim Yumeno and at 12 sweeps old, you may not be the biggest or even the bestest subjugglator Alternia has to offer, you’ve certainly made a name for yourself as one of the more entertaining ones. Though, that was not the plan, you cast aside your delusions of grandeur around the time you hit seven sweeps. It was then that you realized that bigness and greatness and grandness were all overrated.

Clowns were made to have fun. :oP

And boy do you love to have fun -- Puzzles, riddles, board games, hide and seek, hand games. You get the idea. You were even a contestant on the hit gameshow “Survive!” you won a few times, actually. The host said he never met a clown with moves quite like you have. Boy are you nimble!

The best form of entertainment has always been puppet shows, with puppets that you’ve made all by yourself. You’ll use anything to make a puppet. Wood, bones, foam, bones, piper cleaners, bones, etc etc. You fancy yourself very versatile that way. Not picky at all.

Your favorite puppet, and possibly your closest friend, is one you made when you were just 4 sweeps old. Though he has been improved upon since then, he still has the same spirit since the day you strung him up.

You would say Meri, the puppet, and yourself have a very good Messiah blessed bond. Honestly, you don’t know what you would do if something bad ever happened to him. You don’t want to think about that anymore!

Your hive is located deep in the heart of a forest, a bit a ways away from the nearest city or town, though you don’t have it rigged up with traps and pitfalls like the typical paranoid forest dweller might, you are much more interested in meeting any trespassers visitors you might have unmaimed. How else will you entertain and be entertained with a game?

You wonder if anyone is around to play with right now!

Hopefully, you can get there before they find their way out of the thicket this time.

#kerrim things #intros #owo)/#puppets //#long post

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sasster · 3 years

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If you had to group your trolls together by caste (and anons) which group do you think would get along the most? The least? (and why, if you wanna say?) Are there any two trolls who would never interact in canon that you think would have an interesting or funny dynamic if they did?

Okay I definitely know for a fact that the ones that would get along the least would be the purple bloods because first of all I have so fucking many of those bitches. Like there was a time when I had like 14 fantrolls and 9 of them were purple bloods, like I just can’t help myself.

That being said they’re all... Like on the one hand you have the ones like Persep and Kerrim and then on the other hand you have the ones like Styx and Thanat so it would really boil down to a clown stomping contest really. Some would just be roped in with the clowns just ‘cause they don’t have backbones (see: Pallis and Areios) and some of them just wanna see how much violence they can insight (see: Oirami and maybe Parcae)

I guess the ones that would get along the most are the anons. They’re kinda just vibing and doing their own thing. The only super violent anon I have is Oirami, and he’d go to the purples just to start infighting and that would leave the rest of the anons to live in peace I guess.

I think if Baylei ever Kerrim it would be the funniest shit because Baylei would beat the hell out of Kerrim before he could finish making fun of him for living in a treehouse.

#thank u....#rugbytrolls #askter

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edales-drabbles · 5 years

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Hive is Home Drabble 1 pt 2

Themes: Heroes vs Villians, frenemies, protective families, accidents, hiveminds

Summary: Espers are people with powers. Some are good and some are not so good. Ervin is from a family of adopted Espers who work as heroes but lives in his own city attending university. Then he gets hurt on a mission and the ‘villains’ are now going to have to deal with his family. Including the guy he actually likes. Joys.

This one isn’t directly after 1 but it's before 2 so here we are :)

Sleeping at the hospital with all the sounds was hard. Now that he was awake, they were reluctant to let his Dad stay with him like before. Not that his Dad left for long anyway. Kane and Alger had practically frogmarched him out and home when the nurses had asked them to leave. Oisin had waved with a nervous smile on his face while Grace and Juiyana swanned out happily. Rue was at home. As for Nelson, he’d been on duty.

“You have nice villains here,” Nelson murmured in the darkness. The curtains over the hall windows were pulled even if the sound still filtered through. “They were sweet. Didn’t want to hurt me.”

“Did they?” Ervin asked, letting his voice low and shifting in bed so Nelson could join him if he wished. It wasn’t surprising in the least that Nelson was here. They weren’t exactly going to leave him alone after all. “And they are hive. Hive doesn’t like harming young ones.” Nelson had always been an overachiever. He was too young to have done half the things he had, but there was no changing the past. Nelson was far more dangerous than his age suggested.

“Not badly,” Nelson sniffed as he slid into the bed. “I just have to be careful with my ankle for a day or two. Oisin is on duty now. He’s still too green. Kane is going to keep an eye on him,” he admitted softly. Nelson rested his head on Ervin’s chest, gingerly putting an arm over Ervin’s waist.

“We all were once,” Ervin mused, carefully reaching up to pet Nelson’s jet black hair. Oisin was the newest crow. He was still finding his place with them. Ervin didn’t know him very well.

Nelson was quiet for a moment. The steady beeping of the monitoring equipment wrapping around them like a blanket. He was safe with Nelson there. He could feel Nelson’s dagger against his thigh. Nelson’s gifts weren’t necessarily combat based but he was well-honed in darker arts that required no gift at all. Before, when things between them were darker, more aggressive, Nelson had used some of them on Ervin. The worse had involved Ervin almost bleeding to death. Dad had been furious with Nelson.

Strange how now Ervin trusted Nelson almost more than his other siblings. It had been almost because Nelson had realised and had got help. Nelson would never let him die. Not another crow. Nelson had guarded his room for weeks after that, refusing to let Ervin patrol alone. Nelson would never purposefully kill another crow. Their enemies were a different matter altogether.

The young man shifted slightly, the grip on Ervin tightening. “Are you sure you can’t come home?” He whispered. “I didn’t like it. Hearing you were hurt and none of us were close by…”

“I only had a few months of university left. I’ll have to do this year again admittedly,” Ervin exhaled. “After, perhaps.”

“You want to stay,” Nelson said almost accusingly. It was Ervin’s turn to shift uncomfortably. “He’s hive, Ervin! Hot, but hive. He’s never going to be able to commit to you.” Nelson’s words were harsh and he sounded genuinely angry at the idea Ervin would stay just for a man. “He’ll just take you away from us,” Nelson whispered. The true fear.

Ervin tightened his arms around Nelson. Nelson moved and took advantage. Ervin tried not to smile as Nelson wrapped himself around Ervin tightly, burying his head under Ervin’s chin. He’d never do this in the light. Never with the others around.

“I’m always going to be a crow,” Ervin promised. “That won’t ever change. It’s just being home is suffocating at times. Here I can breathe. This was an accident, Nel. Hive won’t let it happen to me again. They want me alive too much. I’m oddly safer here than back home,” he mused. Plenty of villains in Portland wanted him dead. Not really for personal reasons, it was more on principle. Darkstalker and his crows were a menace to the underbelly.

Here, he wasn’t a crow by reputation. He was Night Falcon. Or Blackbird to the hive operatives who enjoyed teasing him. The non-hive villains disliked him but they had more to worry about from hive than him. Hive liked him. Kerrim liked him. Smiles enjoyed tormenting him by appearing with that creepy-ass makeup he wore at random times of the day. Ervin could only hope that having Crows appear at the same time as his siblings wasn’t going to tip the Hive off to his real identity.

“That’s the concern. Hive wants you,” Nelson murmured, trembling. “If you let this crush get the best of you, it will lead to you being converted and integrated. Then I’ll have to do things to you to fix it that will break you and I don’t want that!”

“Hey,” Ervin breathed, kissing the mess of hair under his chin. “That won’t happen. Even if Hive integrated me, they’d want me as a wasp, not as a drone. I’d be me. It’s not the same as Hornets.” Nelson made a broken sound and Ervin kissed him again. “Anyway. You wouldn’t let them convert me,” he said confidently.

“If I’m not here to help you…” Nelson muttered before deflating. “Come home, please.”

Ervin didn’t say anything and just held onto his brother. Nelson curling in his arms and holding on back for now, sheltered in the darkness. If he wasn’t careful, Ervin was going to be kidnapped by his younger brother, again.

#story snippet #slash fiction #slash #my writing #drabble #mxm

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edales-drabbles · 5 years

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Hive is Home Drabble 3

Themes: Heroes vs Villians, frenemies, protective families, accidents, hiveminds

Summary: Espers are people with powers. Some are good and some are not so good. Ervin is from a family of adopted Espers who work as heroes but lives in his own city attending university. Then he gets hurt on a mission and the ‘villains’ are now going to have to deal with his family. Including the guy he actually likes. Joys.

This one would take place further down the storyline after two assuming Seb escapes with Ervin. Ervin and Kerrim would have a big fight before leaving both of them assuming that the other hates them.

————

“We can’t just leave her!” Kane argued, standing up from his chair. “It isn’t her fault she got converted. They were gunning for all of us. It’s lucky we got out with just the one of ours in their hive,” he yelled gesturing wildly at all of them. Ervin shrunk in his chair, looking at the ground. No one was saying it but it was his fault. He was the one who had let hive get close to him. He was the one who didn’t see the dagger coming.

“It’s not her fault, no. But it doesn’t change the situation. Hive has her now and there is nothing we can do to free her or get her back,” their father argued. No, not their father. Right now, he was Darkstalker, trying to keep hive out of their city. “Grace is a grown woman, she will be fine.”

“She will free abandoned and then they will use that to make her loyal to them first and hate us!” Kane growled. “We can’t do nothing. She is scared,” he deflated a little. “She will be scared and alone and with people who have made it their mission to convert lonely people to their cause. We need to show her that we are still her family.”

“Kane,” Dad murmured softly, the pity in his voice too clear to see.

“No, Dad. This isn’t about me,” Kane shook his head but there was a look in his eyes. Kane was the only one of them who had experienced something like this. It was the main reason he wasn’t adopted like the rest of them. Rue moved over and hugged Kane, Kane flushing and sitting down, still clearly angry and upset. Nelson also shifted so his hand was on Kane’s arm. It was never easy for Kane to talk about that time. The guilt in Ervin’s chest grew.

“This isn’t the same as what happened to you, Kane,” Darkstalker reassured. “Grace is still family.” Kane hadn’t been for those couple of months.

“This isn’t her fault,” Jaiyana said helplessly.

“It’s mine,” Ervin stated calmly. “I’ll go back. I have university again next month anyway and a standing order with the Hive during term time. It will be safer for me than anyone else.”

“No,” both Kane and Darkstalker said firmly. They looked at each other and Kane blushed. Darkstalker ran his hand through his hair and looked at his still injured son. “You are hurt both physically and emotionally. You still have a nanite hub. You are not returning. It’s too risky.” Darkstalker said trying to stay calm but clearly struggling.

“I promised Grace that if this happened I would come back and she could live with me if the Hive gave me a safety order. They said they would if it occurred,” Ervin stated firmly, leaving out the minor detail that they had also wanted him to live with the hive. Though after the incident with Kerrim, that wasn’t a likely thing anymore. He curled tighter for a moment just thinking about the man. “The hive knows me, and have protected me in the past. I’m safer than any other crow.”

“Exactly,” Nelson pointed out. “They know you. They have you marked out. You’re the easiest to fall.”

“I also want to finish university. I have put far too much work into it to give up because of the Hive,” Ervin growled, glaring at Nelson who looked unaffected by it.

“I can’t believe you care about that right now,” Juiyana said in disbelieve. “Your sister has been converted and you want to finish university?” Ervin shrunk in his chair again. It sounded worse than he meant. It was more of a reason to return than just because of Grace.

“There is another angle to look at this,” Alger interjected. “The Hive wanted us because they wanted to turn Dad into a Queen. They want hive in Portland. They will likely send Gracie here because it will complicate matters and make us weak. If we do nothing to ensure she knows we still love her, Kane is right. She will work for them against us. Ervin is friends with some of the hive. They do not actually need us to put the hive here, but they may prefer us as allies rather than enemies.”

“You’re saying invite the hive here?” Darkstalker said darkly, looking like he was questioning Alger’s intentions.

“No. I’m saying we need to make allies with the Hive so when they do come here we have some control over the situation,” Alger clarified. “Ervin is our best bet. He had maintained friendly relationships with hive members for years despite working against them. Most of us can’t do that.”

Darkstalker was silent, looking at Alger with an unreadable expression on his face before sighing and leaning back on his chair. “Your view has merit. I need some time to think about this. We will talk again in a few days. For now,” Darkstalker looked up at the clock. “Rest up. We all need some rest after what happened.”

———

Rue ruffled his hair as he passed, Kane outright hugging him tightly. Ervin hugged him back, knowing it was as much for Kane as it was for Ervin. Juiyana ignored him, stomping passed him. Nelson hugged him from behind which said miles more than Nelson could ever put into words. Alger gave him a bearhug which hurt his burns slightly but it was reassuring. Dad, Dad kissed his cheek and pulled him close for a hug.

“It wasn’t your fault, it was mine,” Dad murmured before heading to his rooms looking like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Ervin watched him go before moving to his own.

Collapsing on his bed, Ervin tried not to cry into his pillow. Chest feeling like he had a hole in it. Kerrim hated him and Gracie was trapped there. He didn’t know what to do to fix this situation. He twisted, until his back hurt and gripped onto the pillow tightly. Then he heard a knocking on his door.

“Come in,” he called but after a moment, no one entered. He sat up frowning and went to the door but no one was in the corridor. Stepping back inside, he swung around, expecting Nelson to be pulling some ill-timed prank to make him feel better but there was no one there. His frowned deepened as he waited for a sign he wasn’t mad. Time seemed to slow for a moment and then he heard the sound again. It was the window.

He moved over and opened it. “Hello?” He offered.

“Down here,” a familiar voice commented. He looked down to find Smiles hanging rather dangerously from his window ledge.

“I thought I was the blackbird?” Ervin teased in disbelieve.

“Hahaha. Give me a hand will you?” Smiles complained, reaching up slowly trying to keep his balance. Ervin grabbed it and helped pull the wasp inside. The man shivering, having been hanging outside in the rain for an uncertain amount of time. Quickly shutting the window as he pushed Smiles to the centre of the room, Ervin quickly looked over the man. His signature make up was half gone from the rain and he was literally dripping wet. Smiles shivered but pulled off his now soaking wet jacket. “That was not my best plan in the world,” He sneezed.

“No kidding,” Ervin said darkly, taking the jacket and hanging it on his radiator. He threw Smiles a towel and started digging through his clothes to find something more appropriate for the hive to wear.

“Hive are dumb without a Queen,” Nelson commented from nowhere. Ervin rolled his eyes as Smiles jumped. Nelson laughed and moved over the hive. “You were dangling over my room. I could hear you cursing,” he said brightly. “Next time try to not wake the whole mansion.”

“Fuck,” Smiles complained, sitting on a chair gingerly, clearly aware he was very wet. “So much for being subtle,” he grumbled. He sneezed again and Ervin winced.

Nelson shrugged. “Dad won’t notice tonight,” he reassured as he sat happily on Ervin’s bed. “What do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“And change into these before you get a cold,” Ervin added, putting some of his slacks down next to Smiles. “The last thing I need to do is explain why I’m looking after a hive member with pneumonia.” Smiles looked at him with big eyes for a moment before jumping at him and hugging him tightly. Ervin blinked twice and just looked at his younger brother. Nelson was already holding a dagger but had a similar expression of uncertainty on his expression. “Smiles?” He asked uncertainly.

“Everything got messed up,” Smiles complained, letting go of Ervin and pulling his wet top off, wiping the last vestiges of his make up off with it. Smiles looking even more vulnerable without it on. “We have always wanted you, Blackbird. You’re clever and funny and Kerrim fell for you hard. Only he didn’t want to force you into the Hive. The Hive understands. Kerrim was one of the earlier recruits when we couldn’t control who ended up as a drone and who ended up as a wasp. He didn’t want to lose what makes you special.”

“Understandable,” Nelson acknowledged while Ervin just stood there not sure how to deal with this information.

“So Hive figured, we’d wait. We have plenty of non-hive who live and work with us. You’re special but you didn’t need to be hive. Just hive-kin. If you made the turn willing, great! But you weren’t just a Blackbird, no! You were a crow and that complicated things. The Queens want Sebastian in their number. The only thing known about Darkstalker is that he is fiercely protective of his crows and you,” Smiles made a frustrated noise, kicking off his skinny jeans and pulling on the dry slacks. “You are one!”

“You had to use me to get to Dad. We figured this out,” Ervin pointed out, picking up Smiles clothes to hang them up best he could.

“We didn’t use you. Or at least, that wasn’t the plan. When we arranged for the crow in the city to be hurt, we didn’t know it was you. Big mistake. Always make sure you know all the variables,” Smiles scolded himself. “You were always supposed to be safe. Then Kerrim messed up big and now! Now...” Smiles sank down on the bed next to Nelson. “Now we don’t know how to fix you, him or the situation.” He sneezed again. Nelson held up a tissue and Smiles took it gratefully.

#slash #hivemind #slash fiction #fiction #mxm #my writing #story snippet #superhero x villian #frenemies #drabble

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edales-drabbles · 5 years

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Hive is Home Drabble 2

Themes: Heroes vs Villians, frenemies, protective families, accidents, hiveminds

Summary: Espers are people with powers. Some are good and some are not so good. Ervin is from a family of adopted Espers who work as heroes but lives in his own city attending university. Then he gets hurt on a mission and the ‘villains’ are now going to have to deal with his family. Including the guy he actually likes. Joys.

This one would take place further down the storyline after one. Ervin’s other family members would be introduced along with some drama outside of the hospital. Then the hive would try to take his family. Ervin leaves the hospital only to get captured himself with the hive forgetting about his injuries.

———

Ervin groaned, tensing as his back was rubbed against the wall as they tried to push him into the chamber. His burn flared up and he doubled up in pain. He fought against the hands. He fell to his knees, head bowed and panting as the pain raced through him, leaning against the same wall they had pushed him against. This was agony. This was hell. They had crippled him to turn his family and now they were going to torture him until he was theirs.

The hive operatives tilted their heads. “This would go much faster if you stopped fighting,” they said, their voices still echoing in that haunting chorus. One grabbed the back of his shirt, going to pull him up.

He couldn’t see for a moment, screaming behind his gag as the material shifted violently against his burn. The hand left and suddenly Kerrim was there, yelling at the operatives and cradling his face and head. The gag was pulled out and Kerrim was asking him something. Only he couldn’t hear at first. The pain as too great. Kerrim looked furious at the operatives.

“Kerrim,” Ervin breathed as his hearing started to return. The more sentient operative was busy ordering some of the minor ones to get some salve. The chorus of echoing voice fading slightly.

“I’m here, darling,” Kerrim replied, kissing his nose. “I’ll stay here, I promise.”

“Can I have my arms back?” Ervin asked softly, leaning on Kerrim for support as the man sat in front of him. His arms being twisted behind his back was not helping the pain and ache that was radiating through him. The hive had forgotten about how bad the burn was, it seemed.

Kerrim looked over at the sentient operative. Kerrim was not in charge here, he just knew more than the hive about Ervin and that gave him weight. “Can he?” He asked permission, letting Ervin rest his head on his shoulder. He cupped Ervin’s head and rubbed circles with his thumb at the base of Ervin’s neck. A nice feeling in contrast with his back screaming.

“He did not ask you for help,” the operatives commented, “The hive will allow this provided he does not ask you to divide your loyalties.”

“When have I ever?” Ervin chuckled darkly, grimacing at pain shot through him again. “I won’t do that. Kerrim is a wasp, he is yours first,” he whispered, closing his eyes and trying not to let tears fall at that. He had accepted that. It was one of the reasons he would never truly admit to Kerrim his feelings for him. Wasps were hive. They were bound to the entity too tightly to expect anyone to break free of it. If a wasp disobeyed, they could be converted to a hive operative immediately and their minds would be lost. It was not a simple thing.

“Soon, you will be too,” The Hive declared and his arms were released.

Ervin cried in pain as the initial shock of the action rocked through him but soon he was clutching onto Kerrim, laying across his lap as Kerrim petted his hair. Kerrim was humming a song as an operative cut up his shirt and cold, blissfully numbing, salve was rubbed into his skin. Kerrim murmured words of encouragement as he hissed when they reached sensitive parts where the lava had burned deeper. His trousers were sliced up and his thighs were dealt with too. He started shivering and Kerrim held him closer.

“Has the pain been relieved?” The hive asked, a hand touching the back of Ervin’s neck.

“Yes, thank you,” Ervin breathed, exhausted and ready to fall to sleep there and then.

“You should not have left the hospital. You are far worse than we realised,” Hive mused, ruffling the back of his hair. “An injection will be needed for the nanites to work. After you can rest. The immersion can wait a little longer,” it declared gently, almost apologetically.

“That is kind,” Ervin offered uncertainly. He didn’t want to be converted. Still, the hive rarely delayed immersion if it could help it. The nanites and the nanite central brain hub were a good starting point for conversion but they weren’t permanent. Immersion was. In Hive cities most non-Espers had nanites and hubs implanted in them. They kept them safe and healthy. Even non-hive espers were known to keep hubs for that reason. Ervin as just thankful that the Hive wasn’t going to go through with converting them that moment.

“It is needed,” Hive stated. “Kerrim, if you begin to struggle, summon us and we will guard him for you,” it added.

“The Hive is home,” Kerrim acknowledged before shifting. There was a twinge of pain as Kerrim picked Ervin up and carried him away from the chambers. Ervin held on and eventually they passed out of the labs and into the living chambers. Kerrim quickly got Ervin on his feet and guided him along. Ervin obeyed, too tired and in the aftershock of pain to remember the maze that was the hive quarters.

Eventually, they came to Kerrim’s room. Kerrim having more space than an operative due to his independent mind. As they entered the room, Kerrim closed the door and collapsed on the floor. Ervin watched him, flushing as Kerrim looked up at him with horror.

“Why did you think that was a good idea?” He demanded before standing up again and pushing him towards the bed. Ervin quickly lay down on it as Kerrim lifted the covers and Kerrim put them back over him gently. “You knew they were gunning for you to be converted. They have been for a long time and then your brothers let it slip that you’re actually a crow! Not that it wasn’t obvious you had a connection but that only gave the Hive more reason to target you. As long as you were in the hospital you were safe,” Kerrim groaned, falling to his knees again and resting his head on the bed. “Why did you leave the hospital?”

“Nelson was missing,” Ervin said softly. “They already got Grace. Dad is somewhere in here too and I don’t know about any of the others. Rue was …” Ervin trailed off.

“Too late, Rue is being tracked. As is Kane. Nelson is missing for us too but they picked up Oisin. Jaiyana managed to evade,” Kerrim listed off sadly. “And Alger is fighting against Delaynie now. She likes him. You were kidding when you said you were from a big family,” he exhaled. “Sebastian really adopted a lot of you.”

“Nelson’s not adopted to be fair. He’s actually Sebastian’s. Kane isn’t officially adopted either,” Ervin said idly, not sure what else to say. Just want he’d been planning, he wasn’t sure. Only get captured before he could even get home had not been the plan. Finding Nelson wouldn’t be impossible but he had to find whatever lies Nelson had left behind him. Otherwise, the teenager was like smoke in the wind.

Kerrim nodded before lifted his head and meeting Ervin’s eyes. “We know. It is good. Rue and Kane are marked as a pairing based on investigations,” Kerrim said with a touch of the hive mind in his voice before he visibly disconnected and slumped over slightly. “They didn’t know about Nelson,” he panted.

“They do not look similar,” Torleif intoned as he entered carrying a box. “Kerrim, you need to practice more,” he added, his own disconnection more fluid and clean. Kerrim looked like he had been running. The network was hard to connect and disconnect to, but wasps were supposed to be able to do it fluidly without strain before being allowed to live independently. Kerrim was at risk of being recalled if he let it slip too much.

“Hello Tor,” Ervin breathed, crossing his arms and burying his head in them. He really needed to stop giving them information. Rue and Kane being a couple, or at the very least sleeping together wasn’t news. It was actually the reason Sebastian and never fixed the mistake. It just wasn’t really acknowledged.

“Hello little blackbird,” Torleif said cheerfully, sitting on the edge of the bed. Ervin tried unsuccessfully not to flinch at his proximity. He knew exactly why the big man was here. “I heard you had a rough day but don’t you worry. The hive will take care of you. Next time, don’t leave the hospital until you’re ready to,” he advised, reaching up to push the back of Ervin’s hair up, clearing space for the injection. Ervin closed his eyes and waited for it, tensing up and feeling pain flow through him. The nanites were already beginning to struggle without a hub.

The pain was sharp but quick, Ervin already beginning to feel the nanites buzzing with energy as a hub was placed under his neck. Torleif’s large hand pressed on his head and rubbed gently. Ervin realised tears were running down his face and wiped them away. There was no point crying now. He had got himself stuck in this mess. The question was, would he be able to get himself and Sebastian out of it?

Positioned as he was, he missed the look Torleif gave Kerrim. ‘You know, this might be easier on the lad if you just admitted to him you like him back.’ Torleif scolded.

‘I don’t want to force him to give up for me,’ Kerrim challenged. ‘When the others are integrated, I will.’

—-

Ervin woke up to Grace at his side. Kerrim was snoring behind him and Smiles was standing next to the door. Smiles waved at him as he saw him looking at him and gestured to Grace. Smiles was Grace’s watchdog. Much like Kerrim would be his, he guessed. The hive tended to put people who were familiar together. Ervin wrapped an arm around Grace and pulled her closer. Grace shifted and hung on to him.

“Dad’s not breaking,” Grace admitted softly. “I broke so easily. They were barely in my mind a few moments before the barriers fell and they were in,” she said defeated. “I thought I’d be able to put up a stronger fight than that. If they had wanted me as a drone, it would have been too easy.”

“Good thing they didn’t,” Ervin reassured, kissing her forehead and playing with her long hair. She clung tighter. Ervin rocked her gently, the nanites keeping the pain from his back low. “Dad’s been through a lot, Gracie. His walls are higher.”

“I’m going to get left behind,” Grace murmured. “If Dad breaks out…” Grace was stuck connected to the hive now. Immersion was basically impossible to break. There was no hive back in Portland. That was why the Hive wanted Sebastian. His operation would be perfect for a hub. Grace was far too young and new to the hive to be left on her own. She needed a hub. She needed to stay here. Her life back in Portland was now effectively over.

“Then if I break out too, provided Hive gives me a safety deal, you move in with me,” Ervin shrugged. “You’re family and as long as you’re wasp and Hive has no standing order to hurt or capture me, you are welcome Gracie.”

“You think Dad’s going to let you stay here after this?” Grace demanded, her voice bitter.

“I won’t move back. I have things I want to do. Delayed due to the injury but,” Ervin trailed off. “I want to finish university,” he settled on firmly. “I’m in no more danger here than Portland. The hive doesn’t want to kill me. Despite their actions suggesting otherwise.”

“We are regretful about the damage you endured. Next time we will be more stringent in our pick of contractors,” Smiles commented, sounding regretful for him. “If the hypothetical situation should occur, we will happily offer a safety deal, provided you live here. Grace will need a close connection for the next few weeks and we can’t have her outside of our control,” he explained. “We would prefer you to remain close regardless of your status.”

“We’ll talk on the occasion arising,” Ervin said calmly. He did not want to live in the hive. Kerrim moved, shifting to slid out of the bed. Ervin looked over at him but Kerrim didn’t look at him for a moment. “Ker?” He asked concerned.

“It’s nothing, Ervin,” Kerrim promised, patting Ervin’s calves before slipping out completely. “I have to go do some training. It would be wise for Grace to come too. Smiles will watch over you for now.”

Ervin’s chest sank. “Ok,” he said softly, not really sure how to ask Kerrim to stay with him. Grace cuddled in tighter but Smiles coughed. Slowly she slid away too, leaving Ervin cold and alone. Grace rushed out the room with Kerrim close behind her, neither looking back at him. Ervin turned and buried himself in the covers of the bed so he wasn’t looking at Smiles. He was overstaying his welcome with Kerrim already. If he wasn’t hive, he couldn’t live here.

#slash #hivemind #mxm #story #slash fiction #fiction #superhero x villian #frenemies #my writing #drabble #story snippet

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