anwhile, elsewhere inside the dungeon...
"Why can’t I go check on the children today?"
The deeply confused question ca from one utterly oblivious redhead currently being physically barred from leaving by a blonde who looked fully prepared to wear two layers of beekeeping suits if necessary.
Ollie had planted himself directly in front of the doorway, dramatically stretching out his entire body to maximize every square foot of his short and slender fra in an effort to seal the exit completely.
Unfortunately for him, the person he was trying to stop happened to be Jax.
Which ant the visual difference between blocker and blockee looked frankly ridiculous.
The redhead stopped right in front of the blonde before staring at him in total confusion.
"For obvious reasons!" Ollie cried out while frantically pointing upward. "Are you seriously planning to walk around outside with that sitting on your head?!"
Jax blinked.
Then instinctively looked upward, despite being physically unable to see the problem himself.
Because resting directly on top of his head was a rather sizeable Queen Cell that looked anything but one.
"My Brother said that originally it should look like a peanut, but what peanut is almost the size of your head?!"
An accusatory hand then pointed towards Jax, and the blonde added,
"What if my niece gets hurt as you move around?!"
"A-and if you go running around outside, then won’t all of them follow you too?!"
His rant actually ca as a squeak, but as if to further support his argunt, the desperate and self-proclaid Aunt shakily pointed toward the walls of the treatnt room Jax was currently confined to.
Or rather—
Toward the thousands upon thousands of bees coating nearly every surface.
The walls practically looked like they had developed a second layer of living, buzzing wallpaper.
"..."
But despite all that, Jax still looked unconvinced and just... generally unbothered. In fact, his only response was to rub the back of his neck while wearing a pleading grin.
"But I won’t take long," he argued earnestly. "And this little one doesn’t even feel heavy at all."
The redhead reached up to lightly pat the obvious mass atop his head.
"It honestly feels like nothing."
Gasp!
The blonde witnessed that terrifying pat and imdiately felt his soul leave his body. In Ollie’s already extrely creative imagination, it looked less like affection and more like the opening scene of a dical ergency.
He wanted to call ergency services imdiately just to ensure the little baby was safe!
But—
What kind of physician was even qualified for a situation involving a human "giving birth" to a bee the size of a ball by supplying it with spiritual energy before practically raising it atop his head?
No one.
Which was precisely how Ollie ended up with the extrely important responsibility of repeatedly reminding Jax that there was, in fact, a literal living being attached to his head.
Jax, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered at all. If anything, he actually thought it was kind of cool that everyone appeared so concerned about them. The only real issue, in his opinion, was the sudden restriction on his mobility.
Of course, he wanted to ensure this little one’s safety too, but wouldn’t it be unfair to his other children otherwise?
As an only child, Jax had grown up receiving all of his parents’ affection without ever needing to share it. Still, he’d heard enough stories from others complaining about favoritism to beco very conscious about it himself.
That was why Plant Papa always tried his best to divide his ti fairly so each child could receive, at the very least, the sa amount of affection, even if the level of care naturally varied depending on each plant’s condition.
After all, he brought them into this world. So naturally, he was responsible for taking care of all of them.
Which ant he really needed to go visit his children.
But then Kyle, who had been silently observing this increasingly ridiculous exchange from nearby, finally rubbed his forehead before saying exasperatedly,
"Honestly, it figures that you managed to walk around with that attached to you without realizing it was even there."
Then the newly married cadet paused briefly.
Because thankfully, they were all significantly older and more mature now.
Otherwise, Kyle already knew that a much younger version of himself—or worse, the Captain—absolutely would’ve followed that statent up with:
"That’s because you’re finally experiencing the weight of a brain."
But because they were older and far more experienced now, Kyle knew better than to actually say that out loud unless he wanted karma to strike him so swiftly he’d end up wishing he had never possessed a mouth to begin with.
So instead, he chose to focus on the good news.
"No need to go out for now. The adults already volunteered to split the work," he said.
"Your mother was more than happy to handle the rounds herself. She even insisted it’d be a valuable experience since she might be able to use her ability to coax the plants into reacting to her questions about their well-being."
"As for the Count, he wanted you to check the software he made. Apparently, he rushed an update so you could have a live feed to monitor your other children."
Seeing that Jax was about to argue again, Kyle imdiately raised a finger.
"And yes, your father already said he’d even set up a live feed so you can watch your children’s great-grandchildren fifteen generations down the line."
"!!!"
"What? Really?!"
The change was imdiate. The redhead visibly looked far more willing to remain indoors now.
"If that’s the case, then I guess I really should stay here..." Jax admitted while slowly retreating back toward the bed, seemingly accepting that leaving probably wasn’t an option anymore.
Well, maybe he could think of it as the children spending ti with their grandparents.
"Yes! Exactly!"
The blonde barnacle, finally seeing his charge willingly return to safety, nearly teared up in relief. He detached himself from the door at last before planting his hands proudly on his waist.
"That’s great! You’re about to beco a mother now, so you need to rest while my brother and the Elders figure out an easier way to supply you with spiritual energy!" Ollie declared proudly.
Surprisingly, Jax—who had just stretched himself comfortably across the bed—tilted his head innocently.
"Huh? Who’s about to beco a mother?"
"!!!"
"You, obviously!" Ollie answered, scandalized.
"?" Jax pointed at himself. "But why when I’m the father?"
"!!!"
Kyle and Ollie imdiately stared at him with widened eyes.
However, before either of them could recover enough to respond, a voice suddenly ca from beyond the still-open doorway.
"Are you saying you’re the father?"
Everyone imdiately turned toward the familiar voice.
Standing there was soone large enough to nearly block the doorway entirely, long blue hair spilling over one shoulder as one hand rested casually against the doorfra. His expression looked questioning, though partially amused.
Unfortunately, the overly relaxed Chief of Staff truly should not have looked so complacent.
Because absolutely no one was prepared for Jax’s next words.
"But I’m the one who did the inserting," the redhead explained sincerely. "So shouldn’t I be the father?"
"!!!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers