Radiance Ch. 116

"Ahh I see it's time for that conversation, I did wonder when this was going to happen, well alright then, ok well at first yeah I was kinda shocked, felt kinda odd about it and then worried that there was something wrong with me and then guilty for feeling bad about feeling attracted to her, like the mere worry was casting doubt on her status as a true person, it kinda spiralled for a bit in my mind until well it all kinda just clicked," Seven said turning his gaze over towards Visa who was helping the Gatorclaws to move heavy buckets of clay and scrap metal for their kiln and scrap piles, the team had agreed to help them get some better armour and weapons for their hunts in exchange for their aid after all.

Eve's mouth fell open, "T-Thats exactly how I feel, like my worry over being attracted to him is making me feel guilty like I'm judging him as not worthy of me or not as much of a person as me and that's making me feel bad and hate myself a little," she said and Seven nodded.

"It's perfectly natural Eve, but I'll say this, you are worrying over nothing, to me it's kinda obvious that he likes you by the way he looks at you and it's obvious you like him just as much as you are here beating yourself up about the meer implication that your fear has slighted him if that is not the precursor to something far deeper then what is?" Seven said.

"Umm Vizzy kinda umm let slip that Varrel already likes me, she said she smelled his attraction pheromones when he was near me and looking at me, she said if I break his heart then I'd have her to deal with," she said and Seven laughed and nodded.

"She's a little firecracker that one I'll give her that, the Cazador temper is royally there with her, so well then what are you waiting for?" Seven said and Eve stared at him like he'd just grown a second head, which around here wouldn't have actually been all that surprising.

"W-What do you mean what am I waiting for!? I can't just go and....you know!" she exclaimed.

"Why not? You like him, he likes you, problem solved, go make the first move and start your own story," Seven said flatly in the same matter-of-fact voice that Vizzy had used.

"But well I errr......" Eve began as her brain desperately tried to come up with an excuse but there simply weren't any.

"Listen doc, life is too short especially around here, shit can happen at any time and come from any direction, do you seriously want there to come a day when you look back and all you see is regrets?" Seven said and Eve hung her head.

"No," she said softly and he nodded.

"Thought so, well then get off your human ass and go and tell that new boy he's the most beautiful thing in the world and just see if his wings buzz so hard he winds up in orbit," Seven said with a toothy grin.

"You really think that will work?" she asked and that's when she noticed the sly look on Seven's face and instantly realised he was up to something but before she could comment he took a deep breath.

"HEY VARREL!!" he yelled and the hybrid boy's head popped up out of the kiln area causing his long antennae to bounce around.

"What's up Seven why are you yelling?" Varrel called back.

"Eve would like a word with you," Seven said as Eve's eyes turned into dinner plates and he moved off to the far side of the area while still working the forge as he took a seat at the outdoor table they were using for planning and refreshments.

Suddenly Varrel flitted over on his wings and landed next to her, "What's up Eve you needed me for something?" he asked and that's when she saw it in his eyes, there was hope there, he genuinely hoped that she needed him for something and then just like Seven said, it clicked into place.

"Umm can I have a word with you in private?' she asked and Varrel nodded looking confused and a little concerned.

"Of course," he said and she quickly took his hand in her and led him up into the upstairs classroom which was empty thanks to everyone being hard at work in the yard.

"So umm well here goes nothing I guess, Varrel I umm think you are the most beautiful male I have ever laid eyes upon, ever since you flew into my life it feels like I never really knew myself and it has me turned upside down and inside out, I mean your a completely different species but that doesn't make you any less beautiful if anything it makes it even greater as you are not only beautiful you are exotic, but it's not just your looks it's your personality, even after everything that you and your sister have suffered you are just so ready and eager to get stuck in and to help everyone, now I do not know if that is the hive mentality or if it's just you but its wonderful to see and I......" was as far as she got before out of nowhere Varrell stepped forwards grabbed her cheeks in his upper hands while his lower ones caught hold of her waist.

As his mandibles parted she saw surprisingly human-like lips hidden behind them and before she could comment on them they collided with her own and Eve just melted into a human-shaped puddle.

His skin was like soft warm wax against hers and it felt wonderful, out of his mouth a long thin tongue slipped out and wormed its way between her own lips tasting wonderfully sweet, like a mixture of honey and berries.

Eve was on autopilot now she simply reached up and grabbed hold of his back pulling herself as tight as she could against his hard but still soft carapace while wishing that her clothing wasn't blocking the feel of the rest of him against her skin.

When they parted Varrel gently stroked her face with his antennae making her shiver with joy that wonderfully alien feeling.

"D-Did I do it right? I've seen other humans do it but I never truly knew what it meant until now, it just felt like the right thing to do I mean I err...." he began to babble as his mandibles twittered and his antennae bobbed but Eve shushed him by placing a finger on his soft hidden lips.

"You did perfectly Varrel, just perfectly and thank you for that because if you hadn't I think I would have scared myself back out of the door in fear of your response," she said.

Varrel's face lit up in a warm smile as she released his lips and he took her hand and kissed it while gently nibbling it with his mandibles which was obviously a show of affection to them.

"I feel the same way about you, Eve when Seven brought us here I didn't know what to expect but then I saw you and it was like my world suddenly didn't make sense, here I was surrounded by kind and good humans but here was one that just shone, I just couldn't take my eyes off you, it was like I was looking at a newly minted hive queen all radiant and beautiful, ready to lead her hive to new great heights," he said making her heart Twitter in her chest like the beating of a million wings.

"How is this so easy and so.....right?" Eve said in a soft sigh as she leaned her head into Varrel's shoulder and chest.

"Damned if I know Eve but I do know that it is and nothing has ever felt so right to me before," Varrel said in a soft and dreamy voice.

This time it was she who initiated the kiss between them as she lifted her head and slipped her face slowly in between his mandibles to seek out his soft waxy and plump lips and once they broke it the pair of them held hands as they walked back down to the yard, both happier than they'd ever been in their entire lives let alone in recent times,

As they both walked out they found Seven, Visa and Vizzy all waiting for them and the three of them smiled at the pair.

"Now then wasn't that easy?' Seven said with a smile as a crucible of molten metal floated out of the furnace behind him and poured itself into the mould flawlessly.

Eve couldn't figure out for the life of her how he managed to do that without looking unless he was using his telekinesis like a kind of sonar or echolocation like he was sending pulses of it outwards to map the area around him.

"Congratulations you two, I wish you both the best," Visa said with a fang-filled smile as she curled an arm and her tail around her own beloved human.

"I hope she makes you happy brother and she will answer to me if she doesn't," Vizzy said and Varrel turned to her.

"Oh hush now sister, please don't be scaring Ev," he said gently patting his sister on the shoulder.

Vizzy huffed and buzzed her wings in what seemed like annoyance but could have been mirth, it was hard to tell as she wasn't exactly familiar with their body language yet, a fact she hoped to change as rapidly as she could.

"Oh well then guess I'll have to find a human to steal away from them now, if it's good enough for my brother then they'll be good enough for me, say Seven you got any cute Cazador liking human boys hiding around anywhere?" Vizzy said and before Seven could answer there was a loud boom like thunder and they all turned to see Thundertail standing there looking all puffed up.

"You's waits you's turn! Is my turn to find pretty human boy next! Seven promises Thundertail he'd will help and now Thundertail sees with own eyes that his help works wonders to get pretty humans into arms of loving non-humans, he helps Miss Eve find pretty buzzy boy to make her happy, now he finds pretty human to make Thundertail happy!!" Thundertail said defiantly punctuating the end of her speech with a massive thwack of her tail on the ground.

"Whoa easy there big girl not looking to queue jump you were simply enquiring is all," Vizzy said with a mirth-filled voice as Thundertail seemed to calm down.

Thundertail walked up to Varrel and Eve and she looked up at the massive gentle Gatorclaw girl.

"You listen to Thundertail good buzzy boy, Miss Eve is beautiful and good, you's makes her happy or yous not have to worry about sister, you's has to worry about Thundertail!" she said.

"You have my word Thundertail, I will do my very best by her," Varrel said with a voice filled with defiance.

Thundertail nodded approvingly before she turned to Eve, "Me's is happy you finds pretty non-human to make you's happy miss Eve, me's wishes it was Thundertail but me's understands yous only likes boys, me'd hoped for the best for yous, please don't forget about Thundertail," she said sounding slightly sad.

Eve stepped forwards and gently embraced the large gentle Gatorclaw girl.

"I don't think it's actually possible to forget about you Thundertail and don't worry I'm sure Seven will work another of his magic miracles for you, hell if he can do it for me he can do it for anyone, plus I'm not going anywhere like Seven said, I'm one of you guys now," she said softly.

Thundertail nodded her long head and stepped back from the hug, "Alright people let's get back to work shall we?" Seven said and the group broke up and headed back to their areas to carry on with what they were doing.

Since Seven had the forge covered now Eve headed over to the kevlar loom and helped in instructing the others on how to set it up, then she instructed them on how to mix the chemicals and what processes they needed to endure in order to coalesce into the fibres, it took a could more hours and was already getting dark when finally the first of the fibres began to be pulled into the loom to be woven into the keval sheets that they would use to pad the armour.

As she saw the results being pulled into the loom Eve''s heart swelled because now she had even more reason to get this perfectly right, now she truly has something and someone to lose, for the first time in her life she had someone other than herself to protect and she was going to be damned if the radiers or anyone else were going to take him away from her.

So despite it being fully dark when the first sheet was finished Eve pulled it out of the loom and set it up on a practice dummy, it was not much more than a pale yellow square to look at but as her pistol fired and the sheet caught the round dead centre stopping it in its tracks it became so much more, it became a shield.

A shield behind which her love would be protected, her heart and her soul would be behind it, her love would be safe behind it and as she pulled the sheet down and inspected it she couldn't help but smile. the bullet was caught right there in the threads and she was going to make damn sure that's where any of them that hit him stayed, this would be her life's work because now his life depended on it.