Beyond Space & Time

"Honorable work, but boring," Elder Atlas said, raising her hand. "I volunteer to not stay here." Atlas quickly put her hand up too. "Me neither! I wanna go out and see some big butterflies."

Both of the Atlases felt a little guilty when Wolfie volunteered, but it was very much like him to be self sacrificing. Atlas went over to Wolfie and gave him a hug, grinning up at him. "Thanks," she said, and she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek - their first.

Elder Atlas smirked and lightly pinched Wolf's ear, a move that would have him panting and begging in the right circumstances, but now she just did it to tickle him. "I know, my Wolf," she purred. "I believe you. I also believe that you're capable of killing more parasites than me, if you try hard enough. Your reward will be... Lengthy," she finished in a whisper. Atlas blushed and giggled up at Wolfie. "You too," she said. "Don't miss me too much."

Elder Atlas smirked and let go of Wolf's ear. There was no doubt who was in charge between these two. "I'll give you a head start," she said, spinning him around and spanking his backside to get him moving. Atlas heard the smack and turned to look at what the others were doing. She didn't want Wolfie to be tempted to do the same to her, so she quickly backed away from him with her hands on her butt to protect herself.

And so, they all began. They had no real way of knowing who killed the most parasites, they couldn't keep count after a while. In total, it was about a week before they all reunited. Elder Atlas had felt guilty about Wolfie a few days in, so went back and relieved him of his duty so he could go out and do some exploring, while she protected the queen. They all got to see such wonderful things during that time, and when they got back together, Wolf and Atlas were invigorated with all their new experiences, despite being tired from endless work. "Look, I got a bag full of butterfly scales!" Atlas said excitedly to Wolfie, showing him a little bag filled with multicoloured, shiny scales that had been shed by butterflies she'd helped.

[Did you misspell beetle twice?]
"Whoa!" Atlas said, her eyes sparkling as she admired Wolfie's beetle shield. "That is so cool. Hey, did you see any jewel bugs? They were beautiful." "I did," said Elder Atlas from behind the queen, producing a shield shell of her own that was gorgeous green and so shiny it was like a mirror. "I suppose I can finish this now," she added, pinching the back of the queen parasite's neck and killing it in one tiny move. It slumped off the back of the queen bee.

The Queen bee made a strange, buzzing-purring sound when she was released from the parasite's grasp, and began cleaning her antennae and face with her huge hooked feet. She clicked a few things at some nearby bees, who came over to their saviours and began to jostle them into another room. "Looks like they're done with us," Atlas said with a giggle. However, they weren't kicked out of the hive just yet. They were instead lead into another large room, through which ran a river of thick, opaque honey. The small was divine. "Oh my, this is royal jelly," Elder Atlas said. She got out a small glass jar from... Somewhere, and knelt down to scoop up as much as would fit. "There is a legend about this stuff, let me check it," she said, as she dunked her finger in and pulled out a blob. They watched in awe as the jar magically refilled with royal jelly. "They were right. This royal jelly will never run out," said Elder Atlas, laughing happily and sticking her jellied finger in her mouth. From the way she cooed and sparkled, it clearly tasted amazing as well.

Elder Atlas reached out and stuck her finger in Wolf's mouth, giving him a taste of the royal jelly. "They say that this is also medicinal," she said. "Apparently it can do whatever you desire it to do. Disinfectant, anti-ageing, pain relief... Aphrodisiac," she added the last one in a whisper, winking at Wolf. What was it she'd just given to him? Meanwhile her younger version had reached down and scooped up some jelly for herself. "Oh my gooosh," she cooed, lolling around her on belly and enjoying the taste immensely.

They all got a jar of their own, and then it was time to leave. The bees were doing a rhythmic 'dance' with their wings and big stripy booties, and outside all other kinds of insects were gathering to say goodbye. As they were ascending, they saw a horde of spiders floating past them using webs to catch and ride the air. One of them shot a dart at Wolf, which he could probably catch with ease. None of the others did tho, so it didn't seem to be an attack. Perhaps it was giving Wolf a gift, seeing as the others had their shields and scales.

"We've worked hard and nonstop for a week," Elder Atlas said. "I say we go somewhere to relax. Hold on, we're going fast." She grabbed Wolf's hand and zipped off at an unbelievable speed into the cosmos.

Atlas squeaked and held onto Wolfie tightly as they flew through space faster than light. One day she would be as fast as these two, but she wasn't quite there yet. The other two were far enough ahead where Atlas felt like she could comfortably talk to Wolfie for a bit. "So those two are great huh?" she ventured. "They seem really... Close." The but spanking, Elder Atlas' constant sexual teasing, the occasional look of hunger in Wolf's eyes. "Way closer than us. Do you think their relationship is more... Advanced?" It would be strange, seeing as how their worlds were so similar but also so different.

Atlas giggled and nodded in agreement. Playful was definitely right. "It's funny how their relationship is so different to ours," she said, and it sounded like she was fishing for something here. Those two were doing probably everything together whereas she and Wolfie hadn't even kissed yet...

Atlas blushed a little and grinned up at him. "Maybe," she said. "Or maybe we could just... Start by acting like a couple." She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, but then left her hand on his face. This was the perfect moment to- "We're here~!" Elder Atlas said with a song-sing voice, coming to a full stop in front of them above a big yellow planet.