Chapter 134: Bee Friendly!
The bumblebee soldier stood before Juosiutik’s house. She began to groom herself, if only to have something to do. The little queens had asked her to fly here with the little soldiers, and that she had done. Now, the little soldiers asked her to stay here. So, that’s what she did.
The bear-King things were watching her, but she paid them no mind. She could smell the King’s mana on them, though fainter than on her sister bees, so she knew they were part of the same hive. So, she focused on her grooming, brushing her hair and antennae with her legs.
But then, one of the bear-King thing made a move. It was smaller than the others, though still taller than herself. The bumblebee soldier might have thought it was a worker but there weren’t enough bear-King things its size for that to be true, unless the bear-King hive was preparing for a winter hibernation. That was a bit confusing, since the bumblebee soldier didn’t notice any signs of the seasons changing, but she was just a soldier so winter preparations weren’t her job in the first place.
And neither was figuring out what the small bear-King thing was, so she went back to her grooming. At least, until the bear-King thing got closer.
“Um, hi?”
The bumblebee soldier turned towards the bear-King thing, the King’s mana telling her this was a greeting. She responded in kind, buzzing her wings and releasing friendly pheromones. The bear-King thing tilted its head. The bumblebee soldier wasn’t sure what that meant, so she went back to grooming herself.
Then, the small bear-King thing slowly crept forward, reaching out her upper legs. The bumblebee soldier paused as the bear-King thing touched her hairs.
“It’s fuzzy.”
The King’s mana indicated the small bear-King thing was expressing happiness as it began to help the soldier groom, brushing her hairs. The bear-King thing’s upper legs were warm and felt pleasant. The bumblebee soldier knew that mutual grooming could help clean spots she had trouble reaching, so she began to groom the bear-King thing as well, rubbing her legs across it. The bear-King thing made a noise that was also translated as happiness.