Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The world was beautiful and dangerous. It was an easy thought to have with the windows of the jeep rolled down and no radio signal. The heat, worms, a lack of food, the distance between communities, and so many other variables could easily claim a person's life. Meryl knew that—she'd read about it in books at her prestigious school with electricity and reasonable rations of water. But learning about the world, seeing how it really worked and those who suffered in it was another ordeal entirely.

Suffering wasn't a badge earned, it was a tragedy that should be avoided by everyone. People deserved so much more than they were given. People deserved opportunity and security. But above all, people deserved to live and it was terrible that it was something that had to be struggled so hard for. It was terrible that in order to live, others had to die.

There was a lack of equality, a slaughter of plants just for meager conveniences for people. It wasn’t fair—but that didn't mean she wanted to roll over and die. As someone who was alive, it was Meryl's responsibility to help guide those in the future.

The air smelled like something floral and gastric acid, like wet mud and melting silver. It made her subtle headache worse. A flight of small glowworms chittered nearby her window, Meryl slowing the jeep to a crawl. They normally wouldn't bother keeping pace. A single small glowworm of the group flew in through the window and hovered by Meryl's hand on the steering wheel. Another followed, then the rest, then they all landed on her hand and added pressure, a vice grip as beautiful brown skin grabbed her, Zazie half through the window and kicking their legs.

“Gotcha,” they cooed at her.

“Because I slowed down,” Meryl reminded, slowing the jeep to a complete halt. “What do you want?” she asked, Zazie cocking their head to one side, then the other, then groaning, disappointed as they let go of her. They crouched down in front of the window, their mask clicking down over their face from the harsh motion.

“Well that's not a very nice greeting.” Their fingers wiggled over the edge of the rolled down window, clicking and bones snapping.

“Neither is you grabbing me that hard,” Meryl grumbled, shaking her wrist out, the numbness in her hand fading. That wasn't the first time Zazie held her too tightly. When they had taken her from the garden of Ship Four, her ribs had been bruised. When they had pretended to be a normal child, they had grabbed her around the waist so hard she had heard something pop.

Meryl wondered if worms assumed humans weren't as fragile as they were in reality.

“We want to show you something.” Zazie said it like an excited child, like he had finger painted her a portrait.

“Here?” she asked, aware she was falling for that disarming act. She argued with herself if she was really falling for it or just taking a risk assessment. Both sides were losing.

“Yes. Here. Come. Here.” Zazie offered their hand, beaded jewelry clicking against the car door, the color on their nails catching her eyes.

Meryl frowned, and glancing out at the city in the distance. She was going to be late to pick up her new partner. She looked back at Zazie's hand, which gestured towards her again to take it.

“Is it going to take long?”

“Does it matter if it's a once in a lifetime opportunity how long it took?” Zazie asked, offering again as he stood up and leaned his head into the car, their knuckles pressed between Meryl's breasts and against her sternum.

She jerked away, arm over her chest as she looked accusingly down at them and and then up to their face.

“Aw, come on,” they cooed, voice dropping into a beautiful tenor full of vocal fry. “How many worms have you heard of seeking out humans to show them something invaluable to worm culture?”

Meryl's eyes went wide, a trap door that swallowed her doubts opening swiftly.

She didn't take his hand, instead reaching for the door handle. Zazie pulled themselves out of the window, dancing backwards and waiting for her. She grabbed her water bottle and shoved it in her bag, throwing it over her shoulder as she got out, locked the car, and put the keys in her pocket.

“Okay.”

Zazie chittered, lifting their leg level with their hip to take a dramatic step towards her. They then skittered quickly around her, hands on her lower back and shoved, Meryl windmilling forward. She caught herself, then shot a glare that made her cheeks puff up over her shoulder to Zazie. He laughed, then collapsed into a swarm of glowworms. They danced around each other and a bit in front of her, expecting her to follow.

She did, the cruel sun beating down on her. She had been hoping for a sandwich and a bath once she reached town, but it would have to wait. As long as it wasn't an unusually long excursion, she should be fine for a handful of hours.

“So what are you going to show me?” she asked the flight of worms.

“Hmmm…” they hummed, a soft buzz more than words. Zazie's left foot, then right foot hit the sand, their hands clasped behind their back. “Birth of new life. Renewal of life. It's all the same to us, really.”

“Like, eggs hatching?” Meryl asked, finding it cute that Zazie had wanted her to watch eggs hatch. She knew studies had been done on worms and their eggs, but she had never gotten to see it herself. So to be sought out for it made her feel special.

Zazie cracked a smile, but didn't confirm or deny her theory. “Do you think it's weird? Humans find watching other humans have their young horrifying. Some of the males even faint,” Zazie cackled.

“Yeah, well, that's men for you,” she sighed, a wry smile to hide how funny she really found it. But it showed in her eyes, a soft sparkle of amusement. “But, mmnno, I don't think it's weird. I think it's sweet you hunted me down to show me.”

Zazie cocked their head to the side, practically cooing at her. “The world through your eyes must always be quite a sight. We've seen how quickly the mundane brilliance tends to die with time for humans. You all suffer just a bit and then become quite selfish. Sometimes you're so set on being selfish that you give yourself delusions of suffering to feel you've earned it. But you…” Zazie walked backwards, staring at Meryl. “You're a little different.”

“I mean I think there are more people like me than the loud minority you're describing,” Meryl replied, earnestly believing it. Contentment wasn't a loud feeling, but rather a consistent one.

“But that loud minority controls your wealth, your churches, your police. They bring about the suffering they so fear. They did it on Earth and once more, despite all of the changes, they do it here on our planet as well,” Zazie explained, gesturing all around them with open palms.

“They're just immature and were never taught to grow out of it,” Meryl insisted. “I mean think about it—human babies are the most helpless and ridiculous little guys. They can't eat without someone else, they need help cleaning themselves, being burped, walking. And the very worst thing to have ever happened to them was the first time they ever felt a tooth grow in or when they slipped and fell. Sometimes their world is that narrow. So I was really, really glad my job gave me the opportunity to see more of the world—to grow and experience things that let me become more mature. You have to learn and be taught about how to care for other people.”

Zazie was silent for a moment, sweat dripping down between Meryl's breasts and condensing in her armpits. “So you believe witnessing the suffering of others allowed you to become more compassionate instead of closed off?”

“I do.” She agreed immediately, nodding her head.

Zazie walked closer, his arm pressed against hers, clearly disregarding the boundary that was personal space. Their entire body was chirping like a cicada, a low hum that implied a desire to seek out pleasure.

“What?” Meryl laughed.

“We're just admiring you. I think if more humans were like you, that maybe Earth would have survived.” Zazie grabbed for both of her hands, holding them far too tightly. She winced, Zazie continuing to speak before she could complain. “We want to get to know you better. We want you to understand us better too. We want harmony with you, Meryl Stryfe.”

Zazie leaned far too close into her personal space, Meryl leaning back. “Uh, thank you, Zazie,” she replied awkwardly, embarrassed. Their hips were flush together. Zazie locked their leg behind hers and tugged it forward, Meryl slipping with only one leg to stand on.

She yelped, the sand scratching her elbows as she landed uncomfortably on her backpack and the contents inside. The violent jostle made her headache worse. Zazie chittered—laughed—at her fall, their hands in the sand on either side of her, crowding her.

“Okay, ow,” Meryl grunted, trying to sit up properly.

“We don't think you understand.” Zazie grabbed her shoulders, his hands warm, like an electrical fire as he pushed her back into the sand. “We like you,” they repeated.

Meryl paused. A sentient mass of representative worms liked her. Liked, as in enjoyed her company and wanted her to live longer? Liked, as in romantically? She had no idea if worms experienced emotions or if it was just a kind of mimicry. 

“Um…in what way? Because I don't know if the way I'm thinking of is the way you mean.”

Zazie adjusted his fingers against her arms, then sat up and tugged her with him. They wrapped their arms around her, legs around her waist, tight like a snake.

“How do you think we mean?” Zazie asked, warm breath in her ear. “Humans have a multitude of ways to display their affections, don't they?”

Meryl wiggled her arms free, Zazie clinging to her ribs instead. It hurt. She held his wrists, trying to push him away enough for some relief from that crushing pressure. “Yeah, which is why I'm asking.”

“All of them,” Zazie replied easily. “As a guardian, like you're a child. As a caretaker, like you're an animal that's hard to communicate with but relies on us to live similarly to a pet. Like a partner, someone who we wish to be equals with. Like a lover, who we want to whisper intimate secrets to. All of it,” Zazie replied simply, Meryl's leg jerking as she felt something crawl up her shirt along her belly. It wriggled under the wire of her bra, then nestled comfortably between her breasts and stayed there.

“I think I should go back to the van. Now. Probably.” The last thing she wanted was to offend a creature that was a collective consciousness that was all over the planet. But she also wasn't interested in that odd feeling of a bug violating her with her clothes still on.

Zazie chuckled and let go, hands up, legs spread. Meryl quickly scrambled out from under him, pulled the bug from her chest and flung it out into the sand.

“You're not mad?” she asked, confused.

“Why would we be?” Zazie asked, cocking his head to the side. “Some things about humans, no matter how extraordinary we find you, are the same. Embarrassment, confusion, feeling wary of the unknown.” Zazie stood, using their knee to help them up as their jewelry clicked against itself in the hot gust of wind. “You aren't our prisoner. You're free to do as you'd like,” Zazie promised.

Meryl still felt uneasy. Rejection typically never went well. She remembered the girls in her college who would get drunk and sob so hard they caused a scene, the guys who would then hit on anything that moved to validate themselves in their own minds. But worms weren't people. They had been alive far longer than she ever would be.

“I'm sorry,” Meryl blurted out all the same.

“Oh? How cute,” Zazie cooed at her, taking a step closer. “Do you think you've hurt our feelings?” They took another step closer, reaching for her hands. They laced their fingers together, unusually gentle. Meryl watched their beautiful brown skin against hers, expecting another harsh grip, more teasing, to be tripped up again.

But there was none of that. Instead, Zazie stepped closer so they were toe-to-toe, staring directly at her eyes. His were gorgeous. A vibrant green with smears of needle thin brown around the pupil, which had widened a little while staring at her like a relaxed cat.

“We aren't offended, so no need to flee. Come with me. Let me show you what I promised,” Zazie offered, a tenderness about them that made Meryl feel guilty for wanting to leave the moment the situation became uncomfortable. She relaxed, nodding.

“Okay. I'm sorry.”

Zazie smiled, closing his eyes and rubbing his nose against hers. “There is no need for apologies. We understand how you feel.” He let go of one of her hands, but held the other and continued onwards until they reached a burrow. There was sand piled up around a deep, dark hole that smelled musky, damp, and acidic—like when she had been swallowed by the worm. Back when she had first met Wolfwood. Back when Vash…

Zazie led her inside.

“Can I ask you something about worms?” Meryl asked, her voice echoing. She stepped in something, the ground soft enough to force her foot to sink ankle deep into the mess. There was a wet suction noise as she pulled her foot out of it.

“You may,” Zazie agreed, his nails turning into a small collection of glowworms.

“So if you guys are a hivemind, doesn't that technically make you immortal? And if you're immortal, why do you have to keep having more worm babies? And if you're all a hivemind, is there any point you aren't and are individuals?” she asked, taking a wide step over a particularly wide, viscous looking puddle.

“Everything natural has a cycle. Sleeping and waking, pushing and pulling, life and death. It keeps things in balance. We do have memories probably older than your planet, but we have new ones too. It's more like we go out and collect those memories and then bring them back for the rest to experience as well. So in those moments we can be considered a separate part, but we all eventually come back together,” Zazie answered, foot splashing deep into a wet, sour smelling mess. Meryl grimaced.

“I guess that makes sense,” she agreed, avoiding that same puddle. She had already lost track of how many twists they had taken inside of the caverns full of dank heat like someone's rotting mouth.

“There are rare instances though, where a singular mind was away from us for so long that the experiences may imply individualism for an extended amount of time. That's what allows me to have a physical form that looks human.” Zazie let their hand slip out of Meryl's and twirled around.

His hair shifted in the light, white to an off-blond that seemed longer than before, eyes a deep purple, skin no longer that gorgeous deep brown. There was a buzzing of wings, Meryl watching as Zazie presented themselves as a completely different person. More masculine, still young. She could have mistaken him for a child. But he was more boyish, the worms fashioning themselves into cargo pants, a jacket, a black top, boots, and a scarf.

Zazie smiled, shaking his head and letting his hair grow longer, his limbs sounding like old, creaking wood as they also grew. He was taller than her. His skin wasn't as warm as before, but he wasn't pale anymore either. The worms seemed to melt like a mosaic into simpler clothes: jeans, a turtleneck, leather gloves, boots.

“Oh,” she breathed softly, Zazie smiling at her and taking her hand again, continuing to lead the way.

“So this one is more to your taste?” he asked, voice a little deeper.

“I—um. Yes,” she decided shamelessly. Taller men with light hair seemed to do something to her heart. “But also…” she started, staring at their hands. His hand was bigger than before, the heat hidden away behind the glove. “I know it seems silly, but I feel like I need to be a bit more informal with you now.” Like she didn't know him that well. Like they were strangers. 

Zazie hummed. “We understand. We wear that face because it's the one we've found we're the most comfortable with too. Being large has its advantages, but we have a preference for being hidden and that's easier to do when you're smaller. To present as human we're quite often out in the open. To be a large worm, we are quite often in the sands.”

Meryl watched as the shadows bounced off the cavern walls, as Zazie seemed to grow smaller, their long hair vanishing into the condensation of the maw they were traversing through. They looked over their shoulder and smiled at Meryl, who relaxed in the relief of familiarity.

Meryl gave an appreciative squeeze to his hand, then wondered if their tight hold was something similar. A desire to express positive emotion and to hold on tight to it in a cruel world that would be so quick to rip it away for the banner of selfishness that was survival.

“Here,” Zazie stated, looking around a cavern that had rounded into a dead-end, wide and bulbous inside like a room. Worms pulsed in time along the walls, almost like they were dreaming.

“Oh, wow,” Meryl breathed.

“These little lights,” Zazie explained, soft, dull glows floating around the cave. “Are eggs. Much like pollen from a plant, they're expelled by smaller worms until they latch onto another. As a collection, we vibrate and expel a wet coating that the eggs get covered in as they drip from body to body. Once they reach the floor, the eggs will have been covered in a safety sac that will also fertilize them.”

Meryl let go of Zazie's hand to carefully step closer to the wall, crouching down a safe distance away to stare at the start of a gooey collection of eggs. They resembled eyes, a little unnerving.

“This is so cool! I've heard about how large worms lay their eggs in the sand and the heat acts like an incubator. They get aggressive if people come too close and will pop up to the surface to protect them. This cave is warm to do the same thing, right? And damp to keep them from drying out?”

“Correct,” Zazie nodded, pleased with her realization that regardless of size, overall it was the same.

“Can I take a photo?” Meryl asked, gripping the strap of her backpack with her bottom lip in her mouth, wide eyes sparkling with desperation.

Zazie hummed, thinking about it. His eyes roamed around the room, then floated back over to Meryl. “I'm going to decline.”

“Aww, okay.”

“But,” Zazie cooed, crouching in front of her. “I can be bribed.” They pressed their index finger to their lips, which were curled into a coy smile.

Oh.

Meryl glanced away, at the wall of bugs. She wasn't even particularly interested in entomology. She had just thought it would have been an interesting memento. But if she got a photo, perhaps her lateness could not only be excused, but she'd be praised.

“Okay,” she agreed with a nod, looking back over to Zazie. She leaned closer, Zazie removing their finger from their mouth. They closed their eyes, white lashes resting against their cheeks.

Meryl kissed them.

It felt like kissing another person with little things just being off enough to tell her she wasn't. Not only was Zazie's buzzing louder, but the worms on the wall buzzed in unison as well, witnessing and approving. Their smell of something floral, acidic, earthy, and metallic grew more intense, making her dizzy, making her head pound worse than it had all day. They only puckered their lips after Meryl's had connected with his.

She pulled away, looking down at her knees, embarrassed.

Zazie chuckled softly, stroking her hair. “That was nice. Thank you.”

“Uh…yeah, sure.” Meryl pulled her backpack off of one arm and around to her front, pulling out her camera. She made sure the flash was off, then angled it at the glowworms. She took a photo, then another of the eggs—

“Hey!”

Zazie held her camera out of reach, quickly snatched. They pointed to their mouth again.

“You asked for a single photo, I asked for a single kiss,” they reminded.

Meryl frowned, anger in her cheeks. She popped up to stand, level with Zazie. She kissed him again, Zazie chuckling and offering her camera back—just to snatch it away again. “Actually. One more for compensation.”

“You're being greedy,” Meryl snapped.

“So were you,” Zazie reminded, nose to nose with her. She swallowed. She closed her eyes and kissed them again. But this time he wrapped his arm around her lower back to hold her closer. This time, something wet wriggled into her mouth.

Her eyes flew open, soft squeaks of panic as the thin chitin of wings grazed her teeth, as soft hooks of narrow insect legs scratched her tongue. She pressed her hands to his chest, Zazie bending her backwards as the thing inside scrambled to escape down her throat. It skittered just under her uvula, then forced its way past the ring of muscle in her throat. She could feel it sliding further down, in a way she could no longer force out. 

She roughly jerked her head to the side, coughing and gagging as she heard her camera clatter to the ground. The feeling of the whole worm's folded body sliding slowly, almost painfully down her esophagus made her tremble. She dry heaved, feeling it stop from the tension of her body. She shoved her fingers in her mouth—Zazie doing the same.

She shoved them away. “Stop,” she coughed. “Why did you do that?” she asked, the sensation of the worm wriggling down her throat, making her nauseous and heave with every exhale.

Zazie reached for her hands, Meryl balling them into fists. They took them anyway, pressing their cheek to her knuckles.

“We told you, we like you. Your insides are delicate and warm—I'm going to lay eggs in you.” Then, he laughed. The buzzing under their voice made it sound harsher than it was.

Meryl paled. “That's not funny!”

“They wouldn't survive in your stomach acid, it's a joke,” Zazie chuckled. “And there would be no way to fertilize them. Come on, you're a smart girl, you should know that.”

“Then why in the world did you do that?”

Zazie chuckled, a low droning as they leaned closer to her, toes of their shoes making her camera skitter up against the gooey egg pile. “To keep you safe. Knowing where you are, having eyes if we can't get in otherwise—we did that to protect you. I can call it back out. We can hide it in another orifice if you'd like—humans have a lot.”

Meryl exhaled hard, her stomach trembling like when she had ran for too long in the heat without water.

Zazie tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling. “We could have one burrow here,” they offered. “If it goes far enough, it won't affect your hearing but will get closer to your brain.”

“N—no,” Meryl whispered, Zazie adoringly stroking her earlobe between their thumb and index finger.

“Alright. Your nose then?” he offered, tapping the tip of it and smiling. “That does run into the same issue of affecting another sense until it can crawl into your brain.”

“No! No, I don't want bugs in m—”

Zazie grabbed her by her waist and tugged her closer, hips to hers. “An easier place that wouldn't affect anything would be here,” they offered, Meryl burning as they rubbed their knee against her legs, deep against her core. “It can stay within reach or it can burrow into your womb if you'd like. It would likely happily eat through your uterine lining, so you wouldn't have to worry about periods or it dying inside of you.”

She was going to faint. The heat, the horror, the smell, the feeling of the bug inside of her.

She shoved Zazie out of the way, bent forward and vomited. It was wet. It went up her nose. It burned. She felt herself trembling, slowly getting down on her hands and knees so she wouldn't fall into her own puke. It was thin, more stomach acid than food. The glowworm sat in a pile of it, curled up like it had died.

Zazie rubbed at her back. She didn't want them to touch her anymore. The vomit slowly slid down between her palms, towards the eggs.

She was right to be suspicious. The way humans liked each other and the way worms liked each other was far too different. Zazie stroked her hair out of her face, her earrings glinting in her periphery.

“I want to go back now…” she whispered, wiping at her mouth. Zazie frowned, sighing.

“Alright.”

She sniffed a mix of snot and stomach acid, then ran the back of her hand along her nose. “Really?” she choked.

“Of course. Like I said, you're no prisoner and I wanted to try to do something that could be helpful in the future if you ever needed me. They weren't threats, they were actual suggestions for where your body could safely house a worm. We like you, Meryl.” Zazie pressed his cheek against hers, then pulled away. They got up, picked up her camera and bag, then offered them to her. “Here. Your things.”

She hesitantly stood up and took them, her camera covered in a thick, tangy smelling slime. She hummed uncomfortably, deciding it was best to wipe it on the bottom of her pants. She then shoved it back in her bag. Zazie watched her the entire time.

“We owe you an apology,” they decided. They took her hands and kissed the back of them. “We apologize with sincerity and hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive us.”

Meryl swallowed. Cultural difference. That's all it was. She nodded. “Thank you for showing me this and thinking of me. Sorry I puked in your egg cave.”

Zazie lifted their head and chuckled. “It's fine, we'll just eat it.”

Cultural difference or not, bugs or not, that was gross. “Ew…”

Zazie chuckled again, hands coming around Meryl's waist. They pressed their forehead to hers, eyes closed. She relaxed a little, studying them and the beautiful form they took.

She pulled away, but held their hand. On the way out, she tenderly rubbed at her sternum. She glanced over her shoulder once more at the illuminated cave, the bug from her vomit missing.

The world was beautiful and dangerous. The air smelled like something floral and gastric acid, like wet mud and melting silver. A flight of small glowworms chittered nearby her window, Meryl slowing the jeep to a crawl. 

A single small glowworm of the group flew in through the window and hovered by Meryl's hand on the steering wheel. Another followed, then the rest, then they all landed on her hand and added pressure, a vice grip as beautiful brown skin grabbed her, Zazie half through the window and kicking their legs.

“Gotcha,” they cooed at her.

“Because I slowed down,” Meryl reminded, slowing the jeep to a complete halt.

“We want to show you something.”

“Is it going to take long?”

“Does it matter if it's a once in a lifetime opportunity how long it took?” Zazie asked, offering his hand as he stood up and leaned his head into the car, his knuckles pressed between Meryl's breasts and against her sternum. “How many worms have you heard of seeking out humans to show them something invaluable to worm culture?”

She didn't take his hand, instead reaching for the door handle. Zazie pulled themselves out of the window, dancing backwards and waiting for her. She grabbed her water bottle and shoved it in her bag, throwing it over her shoulder as she got out, locked the car, and put the keys in her pocket.

“Okay—huh.” She frowned.

“Something wrong?” Zazie asked, holding her and and leading her away from the jeep.

“Deja vu.” She shook her head. “So what are you going to show me?”

“Birth of new life. Renewal of life. It's all the same to us, really,” they explained with a wave of their free hand.  Zazie walked closer, his arm pressed against hers, clearly disregarding the boundary that was personal space. Their entire body was chirping like a cicada, a low hum that implied a desire to seek out pleasure.

“What?” Meryl laughed.

“We're just admiring you. I think if more humans were like you, that maybe Earth would have survived.” Zazie held her hand far too tightly. She winced, Zazie continuing to speak before she could complain. “We want to get to know you better. We want you to understand us better too. We want harmony with you, Meryl Stryfe.”

Zazie leaned far too close into her personal space, Meryl leaning her head away. “Uh, thank you, Zazie,” she replied awkwardly, embarrassed as they came upon a burrow. There was sand piled up around a deep, dark hole that smelled musky, damp, and acidic—like when she had been swallowed by the worm.

Zazie buzzed so loudly it made her ears ring. She winced, feeling nauseous. “Hold on, one second.” She let go of their hand to dig around in her bag and grab her water, chugging it before screwing the cap on and putting it back in her bag.

Zazie took her hand and again and Meryl immediately stepped in something, the ground soft enough to force her foot to sink ankle deep into the mess. There was a wet suction noise as she pulled her foot out of it. “Gross…”

Zazie chuckled, but lead her through the twisting pathways, seeming to float on top of any wetness. They rounded a corner, the deep cave illuminated with glowworms.

“Oh wow…” Meryl let go of their hand to step farther inside, to get a better look.

“They're currently laying eggs,” Zazie explained from behind her, Meryl turning around to watch them reach their fingers out to let a small, glowing egg land on their fingers. “We wanted to show you this because we like you, Meryl Stryfe.”

“Um…in what way?” she asked, sneaker scraping along the ground. “Because I don't know if the way I'm thinking of is the way you mean.”

“How do you think we mean?” Zazie asked, lightly flicking the egg back into the air. “Humans have a multitude of ways to display their affections, don't they?”

“Yeah, which is why I'm asking,” she agreed, nodding as Zazie came over and held her hand, pressing her palm to their cheek.

“All of them,” Zazie replied easily. “As a guardian, like you're a child. As a caretaker, like you're an animal that's hard to communicate with but relies on us to live like a pet. Like a partner, someone who we wish to be equals with. Like a lover, who we want to whisper intimate secrets to. All of it,” Zazie replied simply, the floral, acidic, earthy, and metallic smell growing more intense, making her dizzy.

“Um…I'm sorry. I like you, but I don't think I like you in those ways. You're…well it feels weird to call you a friend, even, all things considered. Like, oh hey this is my homie, the angel Gabriel!” she joked, trying to mock the voice of the Eye of Michael's radio preacher. 

Zazie chuckled. “I'll accept that,” they agreed, holding her hand out towards the side in theirs, body pressed against hers. “As a friend, can I give you something?”

“Uh…” Meryl's eyes glanced around the glowing cave. “Sure?”

“Close your eyes,” Zazie requested with a smile. Meryl hesitated, but closed her eyes. Zazie drew their arms in closer, their other hand running up her thigh to the hem of her skirt. Her tights had ripped and it had been too hot for pants. She was going to put them on after she picked up the newbie.

At first she thought it was a drop of sweat. It was subtle enough, intimate enough. Then, she felt something flitter against her inner thigh as it wiggled against the leg of her panties.

She yelped, swatting at herself, Zazie gripping her hand tightly as the worm wiggled into her clothes.

“Zazie!” she screamed, the insect quickly burrowing into the warmth of her pussy. She felt its chitinous body wiggle against her gspot, its little legs gripping the soft rings of her insides and using them to hoist its little body further inside of her. Its tail wriggled, Meryl letting out a low noise of distress as she shoved her fingers up under her skirt. She shoved them into her panties knees spread to make room for her fingers—but all that did was give the worm more room to crawl further inside of her.

“No, no, no, no—!” Zazie still hadn't let go of her hand as Meryl roughly shoved her fingers inside of herself, panties pushed to the side as she tried to reach the worm. Her fingers brushed the tail, but she felt it curl up, pressure against her cervix.

“It's a gift. It can survive on your uterine lining and it will let me know where you are at all times and can let me help you if you're in danger,” Zazie explained, a big smile on their face.

“Get it out!” Meryl screamed, the volume of her own voice making her head hurt. There was a terrible pounding behind her eyes. “Get it out of me right now!”

“You don't want it?” Zazie asked, Meryl trying to push, to get it lower so she could grab it with her fingers. She felt an uncomfortable pain deep inside, the worst cramp of her life. Her leg trembled and gave out, Meryl refusing to pull her fingers out of herself.

“I don't want a bug inside of me, get it out!” she demanded again.

Zazie frowned. They sighed. “Alright. Spread your legs, let us see.”

Meryl whimpered, removing her fingers and spreading them. She was disgusted and freaked out. What if it laid eggs in her? Zazie pulled her panties down to her ankle, then tipped his head.

He stared, he touched her chubby pussy lips covered in dark pubic hair and spread them. She immediately closed her eyes, toes curling in her shoes.

“We just wanted to protect you,” they explained. “We keep them in our body there too. It's convenient and doesn't get in the way of anything,” they explained calmly, thumb rubbing along her slit. “We're sorry you're so upset by this.”

Meryl felt her eyes well up as she felt the worm burrow deeper into her pussy. She dug her nails into the moist cave sand, getting it under her nails. Zazie rested their head against her belly, as if to listen.

Zazie rubbed their thumb over her clit. “It's a little too deep and might be stuck. Without it going inside of your womb completely and eating your uterine lining to make room to turn around, this is the only way to get it out,” Zazie explained, pressing two fingers into her and massaging her gspot as well.

“I—you…it,” she hiccupped. She didn't want a worm in her pussy. She didn't want it caught in her cervix. Would its wings get so wet inside of her they would stick to her? The thought made her nauseous, a tight ball in her chest. “Get it out,” she sobbed. “Please get it out of me,” she begged, gripping their shoulder.

“It's alright, Meryl Stryfe,” they promised, fingering her. She felt how Zaize held her pussy open with two fingers from their other hand. She pushed, hoping it would help it come out sooner. She was sweating. “You can lay down if it helps.”

She violently shook her head, bottom lip between her teeth. “No,” she choked.

Zazie looked back down at her spread pussy, rhythmic and expertly working her up to an orgasm despite her panic. Fast, quick motions before slower, overall ones with his fingers did feel good despite her panic. Maybe she was clenching too much. Maybe she needed to relax. Maybe if she relaxed the bug that had crawled inside of her pussy would come out.

She couldn't help it and started crying.

“Shhh…It's alright. It's okay. We did this because we like you. We didn't want to upset you,” they explained.

“But it's a bug!” She wailed. “You let a bug crawl into—into my—into me!” She couldn't say it. She could still feel it wiggling around. She could feel the damp air of the cave against her insides. She could feel the constantly pressure from Zazie's fingers, trying to get her to cum.

“We apologize with sincerity and hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive us.” They rubbed their forehead against her belly. “Truly, we like you. We'd be distraught if you disliked us forever because of this.”

“Get it out,” Meryl sobbed. She didn't care about their apology. She wanted the worm out of her pussy. She was so desperate to cum, to push it out. She hiccupped, soft sobs that echoed along the walls.

“You smell good,” Zazie offered, as if the intimate smell of her pussy was a compensatory compliment for the situation.

She didn't answer. She just tried to focus on his fingers and not the wriggling. Of the pressure in spots that felt good. For a moment, she wondered if this was some convoluted scheme to touch her intimately. Her head hurt. She was probably dehydrated and the crying wasn't helping.

“Please?” she begged.

“We'll get you to cum,” they promised. “We'll help you, Meryl.”

In a jerking, quick motion she grabbed for their shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut and cried, feeling close. “No—no, keep, yes…yes!”

She felt Zazie slither up her body and kiss away her tears. He still kept her pussy spread so wide it was invasive. He still roughly rubbed her gspot and held his thumb hard down against her clit like she asked. She bit her bottom lip and squealed, high and desperate.

She felt herself cum. She felt her body throb. She felt a relief of pressure and like she was no longer cramping. She heard the way Zazie had fingered her so intently that he got her to squirt, an intense trickle like a fountain.

She opened her mouth to pant, eyes still blurry with tears. She realized she had cum all over the worm eggs. “I'm sorry,” she quickly blubbered. “Oh my god, I just—the eggs, I ruined them, I’m so sorry,” she hiccupped in distress. Zazie continued to touch her clit, to hold her pussy open.

“It's alright. It's thin, but if it gets mixed in with the normal secretions it should be fine. If anything, it might have different nutrients that most worm eggs don't usually get,” Zazie reassured, Meryl giving up and letting herself lay down on the damp floor.

“Is it out…?” she blubbered, feeling Zazie pull the worm from between her pussy lips. It made a shiver go down her spine, the worst sensation.

“It's out,” Zazie promised, removing his fingers from inside of her. She could still feel her walls throbbing, trying to adjust to closing. She could still feel the warm cave air, like she hadn't gotten to close her pussy all the way.

She sniffed, Zazie staring her, waiting. “I wanna go back to the jeep,” she blubbered. His eyes felt too vibrant, even with all of the other glowworms behind him.

Zazie kissed her forehead and gently ran his fingers up and down the slit of her pussy, sure to rub small circles into her clit as if to comfort her. The worst part was that it worked. “Alright. Let's get you back.” Meryl closed her eyes and sniffled. She was so tired.

“Gotcha,” Zazie cooed, a vice grip as he held her wrist. 

“Because I slowed down,” Meryl reminded, sneakers digging into the sand. Zazie smiled at her, Meryl feeling something wriggle in her stomach. Nerves. Butterflies. 

Meryl leaned closer, arm pressed against his, clearly disregarding the boundary that was personal space. Their entire body was chirping like a cicada, a low hum that implied a desire to seek out pleasure.

“What?” Zazie laughed.

“Just admiring you. I think if more humans were like you—the way that you try to connect with people, how much you care about the world around you enough to put your life on the line and fight for it—that maybe Earth would have survived.”

“We think so too,” Zazie hummed, swinging their hands until they reached a burrow. There was sand piled up around a deep, dark hole that smelled musky, damp, and acidic.

“Is this what you wanted to show me?”

“Yes,” Zazie lied.

“No it's not,” Meryl chuckled. She wondered when they had gotten close enough for her to recognize when Zazie was lying. It wasn't like they had any particular ways of telling on themselves like a twitch or a big smile. Still, Zazie chuckled.

“You're right, but I still want to show you the worm eggs inside. To show you birth of new life, to show you renewal of life,” they explained happily, ducking down inside, Meryl following, her foot splashing deep into a wet, sour smelling mess. Zazie avoided the puddle as they continued inwards.

She stumbled just a little in the dark, leaning her body weight into Zazie. She felt excited, like when she was a kid playing school yard games. Zazie laughed, looking over his shoulder at her. She felt their nose brush hers, so she smiled, closing her eyes and rubbing her nose against his.

“You know, we like you a lot, Meryl.”

“You do?” she asked, a little startled, the knot in her chest wiggling right under her heart.

“We do,” they promised, turning around to hold her hip, to press their hips against hers. She felt herself flush down to her toes.

“Why?” she asked with a little laugh. “I know there's an exception to every rule, but I'm still a human. And you said yourself you don't really know how to feel about us.”

Zazie hummed, forehead against hers, swaying lightly in the dark. “True. But you aren't them,” they corrected. “I think you're more like us, actually. And we want to get to know you better. We want you to understand us better too. We want harmony with you, Meryl. We like you,” they repeated, a soft electric hum and a metallic, floral smell with undertones of something acidic and earthy. It made her head throb. Her ear felt plugged.

“…I…You're pretty neat too, Zazie,” she agreed, but not completely. “I like talking with you,” she whispered in the dark of the cave. “I think we have really fun talks about the things that matter.”

“Well right now, we're talking about us,” Zazie teased, making Meryl laugh even if it wasn't that funny.

“Come on,” she chuckled, tugging them along further into the twisting cave to go see the glowworm eggs. Zazie trailed after her, toes clipping ankles and heels catching achilles tendons.

“Zazie,” Meryl laughed, trying to scold them. Their entire body was chirping like a cicada, a low hum that implied a desire to seek out pleasure.

Zazie laughed in reply and locked their leg around hers and tugged it backwards, Meryl slipping with only one leg to stand on.

She yelped, the sand scratching her palms as she landed uncomfortably on her knees. The violent jostle made her headache worse. Zazie chittered—laughed—at her fall, their hands in the sand on either side of her, crowding her, chest pressed to her back.

“Zaziiiee,” she complained with a big smile on her face, looking over her shoulder at them. Nose to nose. He kissed her forehead, Meryl closing her eyes, a throbbing between her legs.

“Meeeerylll,” they cooed back. “Do you like us?” They ran their hands down her thighs, adjusting in a way that made her skirt ride up.

“I…mm…” Their fingers teased at the edge of her skirt, her knees spreading apart in the damp sand. “Yeah,” she admitted.

“You like us?” Zazie asked again, fingers brushing along the jut of her clit. It was like the nub of a puppy tail, Meryl's breath hitching.

“I like us—you,” she corrected with a laugh.

“Mmm, I like the sound of us—of me and you. Of me in you,” they cooed, fingers rubbing either side of her pussy lips. She was too tight to have anything inside of her, not even fingers.

“Pftahaha! Come on,” she insisted, righting herself up onto her knees. Zazie wrapped their arms around her waist so tightly it could crush her. She didn't mind it. “Let's go check on the eggs,” she insisted, feeling them rock her hips against her. She reached her hand up to hold their cheek.

“In a minute?” they asked, Meryl's lashes fluttered. “I…Yeah, in a minute,” she agreed with herself. It felt too good to stop.

Meryl sat in a cavern that had rounded into a dead-end, wide and bulbous inside like a room. Worms pulsed in time along the walls, almost like they were dreaming. Luminescent eggs floated around the room, landing on Meryl's fingers. “They're so pretty…”

She was happy for the mostly dark of the cave aside from the glowworms. She had a splitting headache and it was hard to keep her eyes open. Zazie hummed in agreement, head resting on her shoulder, arm around her waist soothing at her hip.

“Meryl?”

“Hm?” Meryl looked at Zazie, double vision.

“Do you like us?”

She smiled as the egg floated away from her fingers. “Yeah.” She kissed their forehead, Zazie laughing softly.

“I like us too,” they agreed. “I think we're brilliant.”

“Mhm!”

Zazie dipped their fingers down the side of Meryl's skirt, brushing a whorl of pubes before running their fingertips down her penis.

She gasped softly, spreading her knees as the room hazed over again. “Mmm…sorry, my head hurts…”

“It's okay. We can take care of it,” Zazie promised, gently stroking her cock, the head of it peaking out from her skirt.

“I…yeah,” she agreed. “Please?”

Zazie pulled away from the wall and slithered between Meryl's legs. She groaned softly, the warm, wet feeling enveloping her. She closed her eyes, head pounding in time with her chest.

She was having a hard time focusing, but the bliss would bring her back. Zazie knew right where to touch, how to suck, where to squeeze. She didn't have to beg or direct, she just had to moan.

She threw her arm over her eyes to add a bit of pressure and warmth, wanting the pain to go away. She wanted to focus on the feeling of Zazie swallowing her cock completely, at the way they tightened their throat and added pressure to the head of it. She moaned so loudly it echoed, a happy chittering from all of them.

“Zazie…!” she moaned, back arching, a rustling of thousands of wings. There was a blinding pain behind her eyes. The pressure in her cock was so intense it hurt. Her chest hurt. She didn't feel like herself.

She peered her eyes open as Zazie slurped at her penis, the bleary glow of the wall. It felt comfortable. It felt safe. She reached her fingers out for it—

And stopped.

She screamed. Something had snapped, popped, something—Zazie swallowed her cum, reaching up and violently gripping her hands.

“My head,” she whimpered desperately. “My head, I—”

She felt it. Something wriggling. In her skull. In her belly. In her penis. She couldn't tell if she moaned from pleasure or pain, but it was probably both. She could taste blood.

“I don't—we don't…Zazie,” she whined.

“We know,” they promised, licking their cum from their mouth. They tugged her up right and closer, squeezing her so tight she felt like she was going to burst at the seams—and she did.

Meryl felt into hundreds of glowworms, looking at hundreds of other glowworms on the wall, the new eggs she helped make, the dark and damp and safe tunnels. And Zazie. Them. Her. Us.

Zazie looked like Meryl, or Meryl looked like Zazie, it didn't matter. She pressed her fingers to her cheek.

She was brilliant. She deserved as close as she could get to mortality while other humans rotted away in their singular, selfish minds. She deserved to be loved. She deserved to be a part of the world. She deserved to be beautiful and dangerous.

“That's how we feel about us…?” Meryl asked, her voice hers and hers. It was like listening to it through a radio for the first time, without signal interference of her own bones.

“I…I love us,” she gasped, holding her own arms and bending forward, tears in her eyes. “I love us so much,” she gasped desperately.

Kind. Understanding. Struggling to survive. Giving. Patient. Sure-footed. Loved. Loved, loved, loved. She couldn't contain that much love, bursting into glowworms and laughing.

She wasn't even upset Zazie had put a small worm in her ear that ate at her brain and replaced it with worm-silk. That was such a gift!

The other parts of Zazie that hadn't always been Zazie felt the same. The one Zazie liked to wear was offered up to the worms by humans as a sacrifice. They felt dying for the worms was their only purpose. But being alive and being loved and putting that mutual love back into the ground was exactly how it should be.

Meryl collected herself, the world vibrant and full of new colors humans eyes couldn't see. “I love us—I love us so much!” she gushed, spinning around and falling over, bursting back into worms. This had hurt at first, but it truly had been done out of a place of joy and preservation. Her laughter echoed off the wall and back to her in the damp cave underground full of their eggs that would hatch soon.

Chapter Text

Lures were always so particular. Bright colors, lights, an implication of safety—they all attracted different kinds of things to be gutted and used. But Meryl wasn't looking to gut her catch. In fact, she could be nothing more than grateful she'd found him all because of what she was now.

Journalism was all about integrity, information, conveying the truth. Being apart of the universe in such an intimate way that being a worm provided helped her still do that. She could feel all of herself singing, from the remnants of Julai to the little town she found him in.

He looked worse for wear, but still well-cared-for. His prosthetic was gone, he needed a shave, his hair was too long. She wondered if the glasses were for comfort or if his sunglasses had actually always been medicated.

“It makes sense,” Zazie agreed, comfortably nestled up to her right. “Plants are aquatic based. They're plants. Knives was always squinting at things like he couldn't see that were far away, so I think they're both nearsighted little guppies,” they snickered.

“That's cute,” Meryl chuckled, leg swinging on the top of the building, heel kicking into the wall.

“Very. Still, I'm surprised we like him so much,” Zazie hummed, watching a man who caused so many deaths make a buffoon of himself around a young girl.

“I'm surprised we like Knives so much,” Meryl sighed, putting her chin in her hand, Zazie chuckling and slipping off the side of the building before bursting into a swarm.

They landed left foot first, then right, turning around to look up at Meryl with her face. They smiled. She smiled back and melted into a comfortable collection of glowworms. Meryl made their way into town, nodding politely at vendors trying to sell them human things.

They knew them, much the way people knew of other towns from photos. They knew of them like lectures and essays in books. Meryl had those memories clearly once, but their human life felt like it had been eons ago when melded with worm memories that spanned generations. And, time was a gluttonous beast that had a taste for clarity.

So she looked fondly on them, the people and their wares and their buildings, but she knew they were no longer for her. She knew these also weren’t for Vash, nor for Knives. They weren’t suited to these things. They were more suited to the soft, inhuman glow that both worms and plants had. They were suited to hive buzzing and sister singing and community that humans could never grasp for more than an instance amongst a few.

So, she was brazen and shameless as she slipped her arms around Vash’s, as if she had always been nearby, as if he should have known as much. He started, wide eyes behind his glasses not recognizing her—or so he made it appear.

“Hi,” Meryl greeted, a soft whisper of a word and a warm smile.

He searched her face, looking for answers while still being too scared to ask. He looked different in this life he was pretending to have. Soft stubble, his hair was longer, his clothes less personal. He was trying so very hard to abide by their whims even more than he had when Meryl knew him as just herself.

“Come with me?” she requested, voice sweet like honey to soothe his bitter reality.

“Eriks? Do you know her?” the young girl asked from his other side, Meryl giving her a smile.

“I…” He hesitated.

Meryl watched the way the girl was on the defensive. If he was playing at having no memories, surely people had tried to take advantage of that before. She was a clever girl, a kind girl, but a normal human girl all the same.

“Of course he does,” she promised. “And we know his brother and where he is, too.” She had forgotten to correct herself, to say ‘I’. But perhaps Vash was still too trusting or perhaps he genuinely overlooked it in his shock.

He stared at her, eyes wide, halted in the middle of the road. “You…He…” she watched his breathing putter, hiccup, stagnate, reset, die out, start over.

“Do you want to see him?” Meryl offered gently, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “I can explain it on the way. He’s alive, Vash.”

Those wide, confused eyes stared at her, the waterline flooding and overflowing immediately.

“Eriks?” the girl called, glancing at Meryl with hesitation.

Vash ducked his head down and rubbed under his nose with the back of his hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…” he mumbled softly, deciding to lie, to be a scared little boy.

Meryl frowned, pity more than disdain. “Yes you do…Don’t you want to see Nai? He’s confused right now, the same as you. Don’t you think that would give you a chance to fix what matters?” Meryl coaxed. “You love him, right? I don’t think you should leave him alone again because he’s either going to hurt people again or he can be helped while he’s relearning everything. Please, Vash? You can do so much good if you just come ta—”

“No,” he insisted, tugging his arm away. “I won’t—I can’t, I…!” He pressed both of his hands to his face, fingers up under his glasses.

“Listen—miss,” the girl quickly tacked on, attempting to be polite despite her tone. “You do apparently seem to know him, but Eriks has been through so much and I think whatever you’re doing is just upsetting him. He’s happy here. So I think that it would be best if you just left him alone, okay?”

Meryl stared at her, a million, soft little voices in her head with experience suggesting how to handle her. Quite a lot said to just unhinge their jaw and eat her. But Meryl decided, for now, to disregard those.

“Well, that does sound like him—running away for selfish reasons again while pretending it’s better that way while everything gets so much worse because he didn’t step in sooner. At least he’s consistent, even without his memories…I’m just… Really disappointed in you, Vash. After everything…” she shook her head, but pulled a notebook out of her breast pocket. She wrote on it, then tore the piece of paper out and handed it to the pathetic man in front of her. “If you change your mind. Otherwise…”

They knew he could hear their buzzing. Even if she looked like Meryl, sounded like Meryl, acted like Meryl, walked like Meryl, thought like Meryl. He would know that wasn’t Meryl. But he had cared about her. He had cared about Knives. He cared too much. He would come, eventually, despite the buzzing the girl couldn’t hear. He would come, despite the unnerving bioluminescent green in her eyes. He would come, because he had looked at the address on the paper before the girl had thrown it out for him.

They knew he would come. Knives was always too tempting of an offer—especially a Knives he would think he could fix or pretend with. He was selfish that way.

That wasn’t to say they were lying about having Knives, who was just as confused and lost as Vash either had been at some point and was pretending to still be, or actually was.

It was so easy with Conrad drowning in remnants of his own projects and Knives’ final demands. He hadn’t even noticed a plant had gone missing now that Knives’ watchful gaze could no longer criticize him for the most minute of failures. He hadn’t heard her silent screams as Knives pulled his full grown body from her.

When he had been forcibly removed from Vash’s gate, part of him remained. That part had worked into one of their sisters. A part became a whole. It was like taking a cutting to grow a second of the same plant.

He was beautiful and docile, if not suspicious of everything. But he kept his mouth shut. He sat and waited. He let Zazie brush his long, beautiful hair. He let them promise day after day Vash was coming soon, he just needed a little more time. He let them guide them deeper into the twisted tunnels under the plant, some of which had already purposefully collapsed or readjusted so they no longer led where they had in his memories.

Knives was theirs. And it would be so much easier to keep him as such once they also retrieved Vash. They wouldn’t start without him—they were twins, it was only fair they would wait. They wanted them both, but not in the way Zazie had wanted Meryl. They wanted Vash and Knives differently. Zazie wanted Meryl in a way that felt like masturbation; the worms wanted the twins in a way that felt like incubators.

“Soon, Knives. I promise,” Zazie cooed in the dank glow of a tunnel, fingers running through his beautiful hair. “He just needs to follow Meryl. He’s coming. Then, you can be together again and you’ll feel just fine,” Zazie lied, the way they had been for weeks now. But memories for independent plants were as easy to play with as Meryl’s had been when she was human.

Vash could never leave quietly. Even when he tried, the noise and the sounds of gunfire usually followed. This time it was all the same, just a girl's mouth rapid-fire instead of a gun.

What was this note? Why was he trying to leave? Didn't he like it here? Did she do something wrong? He was so mean! She cared about him so much, didn't he know that? Why…? Why did he have to go, he was like her big brother, didn't he know that…?

It wasn't to say the waterworks were boring. The worms always found interpersonal relationships amusing. It was just they wanted Vash more than they wanted to watch some little girl cry and Vash try to explain that sibling bond is exactly why he needed to go.

The bait was the same for both fish. The yearning, the heavy heart, a claim on both of them.

The worms collected themselves into the presentation of Meryl again, waiting where they said they would be. By the edge of town by the sign that read, Welcome to Watergold. She smiled in the darkness, Vash sniffing and trying to use the cover of dark to hide the fact he had been crying. Meryl held out their hand for him, an offer of comfort that was genuine and not manipulative—or perhaps the fact it was genuine and they were still going to go through with what they wanted him for made that small act of kindness even worse.

“You ready?” she asked as he took her petite and smooth hand in his large, scarred, ruined hand.

He hesitated. “Tell me about Nai…?”

She lowered her hand. “So, when Conrad left with all of the pregnant plants, one of them actually gave birth to a carbon copy of Knives—we're pretty sure it had something to do with him being inside of your gate. She gave birth to him fully grown, but without any of his memories. He's gotten a few back of you, but all he really knows is that you aren't there…Zazie took him so there wouldn't be a repeat of what happened in Julai, so he's hidden away under the sand. We've gotten… close. Since you left—Zazie and I.”

“Is that so…” Vash shoulders sagged, defeated without so much as needing to turn the safety off of a weapon. “I was just beginning to really enjoy my life here…”

Meryl smiled apologetically and started off into the sands, Vash following behind as she led him to his brother, to his new fate.

“You know, I've never seen the inside of a worm cave before,” Vash admitted as he gazed at the soft, comfortable green glow of the pupa lining the walls. The air was heavy and wet, making it hard to breathe.

“We're surprised you haven't asked,” Meryl admitted.

“To come and see them?” Vash asked, confused as he looked over at her.

“No. Not about that.” She glanced up at him with eyes that had that same green glow, her body humming that same soft, insect like hum.

“I don't know what you mean,” he replied with an awkward laugh. She couldn't tell if he was being genuine or not. If he thought perhaps he deserved this for everything he had done. He was always so hard to read—it was why they decided it would be best to not assimilate him and Knives. Who knew what consuming a plant could do to the collective worm hive.

“…Okay,” she agreed gently, letting him play pretend for a little longer. But he would have to accept his reality at some point. Or perhaps he would be more content in whatever delusion he decided to consume. Regardless, she leaned up against his side, listening to the way his heart raced as her head leaned up against his ribs. “You know we're really happy that you decided to come with us. Taking care of Knives was starting to get a little hard.”

“I'm sorry…” Vash apologized softly.

“Oh you don't have to apologize! If anything, it'll be easier to care for him with you here. He has really bad bouts of…well, acting out I guess? He destroyed an entire clutch of eggs more than once and it was really hard to get him to calm down…But most of the time he's a good boy,” Meryl chuckled, Vash giving an embarrassed chuckle back.

“You sound like our mom when you say it that way…Any time he'd throw a fit or get too excited about something, she'd say stuff like that.” The fact he was bringing up his mother meant something, Meryl just couldn't place what. It could have been that he had gotten so comfortable with being domesticated by other people that he let things about him slip. It could have been that something about her resembled his mother. It could have been that he was thinking so hard about his childhood with Knives that of course he would think about their guardian.

Either way… “We thought you didn't remember,” Meryl teased, Vash's eyes going wide.

“I—well I…Some of it…It's just easier to lie and say I forgot all of it…” he admitted.

“It's okay, we're mostly teasing. He likes when I'm there too, so…You must both feel the same way.” They reached for his hand again, a bit more selfishly. The squeeze they gave his hand was a little too hard, full of so much love they didn't know where else to put it.

But Vash was used to being hurt. So he gave her a lighter squeeze back and continued to follow Meryl deeper and deeper into the twisting caves. She wasn't going to put it past him to remember which ways they had come from regardless. He wasn't human and she didn't know the extent of his capabilities. How long had it taken him to master specific tasks like ballet, being a marksman, being technologically inclined, and who knows what else?

Meryl paused in front of a wall of glowworms. “He's through here. You ready to see him?”

Vash inhaled so deep it made his broad shoulders straighten out. He nodded, small at first, then a little more sure.

Meryl stuck her hand in the buzzing, pulsing curtain of bugs, moving the thick collection of them aside. They parted, leaving behind thin, spider web-like strands that fell to the floor. Meryl ducking between them and letting Vash's hand go.

“Knives? We brought someone we think you'll be happy to see.”

The glowworms on the wall watched as Vash walked through them, unaware of the way the strands clung to him. They watched as his face dropped and his heart sank.

True to their word was Knives. He was beautiful, with his long, wavy hair splayed out underneath him. With his soft skin and tender muscles. With his narrow nose and sharp jaw. With his round belly glowing from the inside and full of worm eggs.

“We're hoping you can keep him calm enough to not destroy these ones this time,” Meryl explained, pleased to see a new expression on Vash that was unfamiliar to her.

“What did you do to him…?” Vash asked, voice low and in time with the excited screeching of the worms behind him.

Knives' lashes fluttered, his eyes opening. “Vash…” he whispered, eyes on his brother.

He sat up on his elbows, then groaned and had to lean back again, the worm wriggling between his legs thrashing with excitement from the movement.

Its lower half was shoved between a wet, puffy, soft pink set of vaginal lips that hadn't been there. It pulsed like an upset grub before thrusting in and out of his wet hole. Its head suckled on the remainder of his penis, a narrow thing that resembled the narrow nub of a dog's shaved tail. A thick coating of mucus surrounding it, gradually eroding it away.

Meryl stepped behind Vash, out of his immediate line of view as he continued to stare at his brother and the state he was in.

“Vash,” he panted again. “Help,” he pleaded, Meryl giving a wide smile that was so much more suited to Zazie's features. “Kill them—and me, I don't care. Set it on fire, do something,” Knives demanded with power he didn't deserve to cling to.

“But you've both just been reunited—are you sure that's what you want?” Meryl asked, more to Vash than to Knives. “To go through the pain of losing each other again?” Meryl wrapped her arms around Vash's middle, forehead pressed to his spine, more almost invisible strands to his clothes. “And to have it be your fault again?” Zazie asked.

Vash tugged away, whirling around as they burst into glowworms with an obnoxious giggle.

“What did you do to Meryl?” Vash hissed.

“I told youuu,” Zazie cooed, collecting their physical body again. “We've gotten closer with her—and with Knives. But we wanted you too!” Zazie cooed, twisting around to swarm in loops around Vash, Meryl landing at his feet.

“You were so hard to find, Vash…But everything will be okay now. I know you two have it so hard—you're plants, but you're nothing like the ones in tanks and bulbs. You're special, but being special makes you so lonely…”

“Don't listen to them—” Knives grunted through gritted teeth, then fell back with a moan, knees parting even further as the worm fucked him even deeper. Meryl watched the way his pussy throbbed around the worm, the way he sounded wetter as the worm thrust selfishly in and out of his cunt.

“He says that while orgasming,” she cooed at Knives. She pulled away from Vash and pranced over to Knives instead, kneeling down by his head to let it rest in her lap. “Shhh…It's alright, Knives.”

“I…you,” he hissed, pussy stuffed and giving him pleasure he wouldn't have been able to experience if he remained as a man. With those harsh angles to his hips, with his rude penis, with his heavy balls. He deserved this. Meryl stroked his hair out of his face, lowering herself down to press her nose to his forehead.

“You're okay,” she promised. “Let it happen, like you always do.”

The worm suckled on what remained of his penis, Knives moaning.

“Shhh…there you go. It's okay. Tell Vash it's okay. That you were just having another tantrum.” She sat up, offering her hand to Vash.

“Come here. Even if you decide to listen and kill him again, don't you at least want to see him before then? And if not, don't you want to touch him? He's your brother,” Meryl reminded in a soft, soothing, and deep tone. The kind she had used for Knives that sounded far too motherly.

Vash hesitated, the way he always did. “I'll ask again…what did you do to Nai?” he repeated, inhaling the deep, thick air.

Meryl sighed. “We made our choice. Plants…or humans. Humans are greedy and don't give anything back. But plants? You all create things—even if in your case, it's problems.” Her voice had dipped down into Zazie's before she corrected herself, a soft smile. “We want you to create new life for us worms. We picked you over the humans. Eventually they'll die out or kill themselves or we'll eat them whole,” she promised over the sensual thrusting inside of Knives’ pussy. The deep, glistening pinks could be seen, every time the worm pulled back. Knives moaned again.

“Vash— oh, Vash…!”

Meryl brushed his hair out of his face. “You can try to leave,” Meryl offered. “Run away like you've been prone to your entire life. Knives said as much. Go, shoo,” Meryl insisted, waving her hand at him.

Vash's eyes flickered back to the curtain of glowworms. But they stayed on Knives, on his spread legs and round belly and dwindling penis. He stared at the puddle of pussy juice and what probably contained his disintegrating penis underneath him.

“Stay or go, Vash,” Meryl insisted gently. “But we want you to stay…”

She looked at him with wide eyes full of regret. That must have hurt him with the way he looked at her. He removed his glasses, thumb and index finger rubbing into the corner of his eyes. He looked so weary, so defeated…

“Okay…” he agreed so softly it came out as a whisper. “Just keep me with Nai.” His only stipulation. 

“You spineless—” Knives hissed before throwing his head back and raising his hips into the air. He trembled violently, a gush of fluid from his pussy that dripped past the worm's invasive body.

“I'm sorry,” Vash apologized, slowly approaching Knives. He knelt down next to him, slowly lowering his forehead to the ground. “I'm sorry,” he repeated, reaching for Knives’ twitching, numb fingers. “I love you. I'm sorry…” he repeated again, flinching as a glowworm wiggled up into his pant leg, another down his shirt.

“C—ah! Mmm..! Coward,” Knives choked out, the worm pulling off his penis with a thick, wet suction noise. It dangled backwards, its variety of legs scratching the air. It thrust and wiggled, trying to pull itself out of his pussy. Meryl reached forward and yanked it out.

Knives let out a loud yell, the fat, stout portion coming out first, then the thin, narrow bit that curled in on itself like a proboscis once it was completely removed. Meryl gently set it on the ground in his puddle of cum, the worm going still and soaking it up.

Another armadillidiidae-like worm dropped off the wall and wiggled closer to Meryl, who picked it up and set it up against Knives’ gaping pussy.

He hissed through gritted teeth as the bug unfurled its narrow lower half, Vash not moving from his place next to his brother on the floor, worms slowly collecting around his clothes, the thin strands sticking and making the cotton material of his clothes harden and flake away. The grub pushed its proboscis easily into Knives, then hunted for his cervix.

“It won't hurt—in fact, it'll feel really good,” Meryl promised, Knives jerking and twitching with another moan. “Even losing your penis will feel pleasurable.” She reached over and stroked Vash's hair, Vash insisting on remaining stone-still.

Knives moaned so loudly he immediately orgasmed again, gushing all over the ground. The grub wriggled closer, suckling at the mucus around his penis before swallowing it down in one motion. It made it easier to latch onto his body, to thrust its fatty, almost prolapse-looking lower half into Knives’ pussy. Knives trembled, biting his lower lip so hard he broke skin.

“It'll start with your testicles,” she started to explained, watching the worms focus on flaking away the clothing between his legs first. The worms ate his clothes and only his clothes, another grub plopping onto the floor. Meryl picked it up and set it on Vash's lower back. The grub wiggled and searched for the warmth, finding his asshole.

Vash inhaled sharply, back muscles tense. “Shhh…” Meryl soothed at his body as the worm twisted itself around, burrowing its head into his asshole. It was too big, the tight, dry ring of muscle fighting. The grub continued to rub at it, eventually getting a coating of mucus against his hole that let it pop its head inside.

Vash shivered, the small gesture giving way into trembling. The lower half of the grub felt around between Vash's legs, finding his balls and nestling between them and his taint.

“They'll slowly dissolve and eat them away. Then they'll burrow a hole inside of you. The same worm that ate your testicles will use that genetic material to implant a womb. Again, all of this will be totally painless and will feel good. You can feel it already, right? How nice it feels to have it inside your ass?” Meryl cooed, rubbing at his lower back, soft suction from the worm as it burrowed its head further inside to inspect the makeup of his body.

“The long, spindly part you saw me pull out when that worm came out of Knives will latch onto the walls of your womb as it works. It'll lay very, very small eggs inside of you while also constantly pumping your insides full of a chemical that will stimulate pleasure.” The grub between Vash's legs already had coated his balls in a thick mucus. It dripped onto the floor, other worms still eating away at his flaking clothes.

“The eggs will grow over time, but they're only a fourth of a thoma's egg in size when they're fully grown. They glow brighter the closer they are to hatching—for example, Knives should lay these ones soon,” Meryl explained with a warm smile towards his belly, the eggs giving the impression of cellulite. “They come out really easy and they made Knives cum the entire time he had them for us. But during that, worms without eggs still simulate orgasms in your wombs since they want that moisture you produce as a kind of food. So you don't get any more eggs than what's already inside of you, but you'll still get stimulated the entire time you're pregnant.”

And it had made Knives delirious on more than one occasion, but Vash would learn that eventually. “After you lay our eggs, another worm will crawl inside of you and spit nutrients into the walls of your womb and encourage orgasm the entire time. Then, after it crawls back out, another like the one attached to Nai will lay eggs in you again. Okay?” she asked, a chipper smile on her face.

Vash didn't reply. He just adjusted his hold on Knives’ hand.

“Oh! Oh my gosh, I almost forgot, how silly of me! Since you'll be laying eggs for us, you won't need your penises anymore! They'll get eaten up like your testicles and will eventually kind of just fall off like an umbilical cord.”

“You're disgusting,” Knives hissed, but to Meryl it sounded more like a whimper.

“Shh…I know you're overstimulated. It's alright,” she promised, leaning down and kissing his forehead. “You always get so cranky the closer you are to laying our eggs.” She soothed at his belly, Knives genuinely whimpering.

“I'll ruin them all the same way I did last time,” Knives hissed at her. “I swear it. I'll crush them every single time,” he snarled—then half-turned on his side to moan into her lap, his thighs twitching.

She hummed, stroking his hair. “It'll be okay, Knives,” she promised. “Vash is here. You wanted Vash, right?” she reminded, holding either side of his face and forcing him to look at her.

Geometric spirographs lines in her eyes, twirling lace patterns around her pupils.

“I—” he choked, Meryl wiping spit from the corner of his mouth. She eased his head to the side, letting him see his twin, who still hadn't moved from his place on the floor.

“All you wanted was you and Vash together, right? And to be safe? You're safe here. The humans can't get you and if they try, we'll just gobble them all up. You're safe, Knives. We’ve given you everything you asked for down here. We're only taking my payment for that exchange,” Meryl promised, gently stroking his beautiful cheekbones. “It's okay.”

He panted, short and heavy, but it gradually evened out to deep and dizzying.

“There you go,” she cooed. “Good boy…let it happen. Let yourself feel good.”

Something inside of Meryl's gut squirmed, pleased and content at how easy it was to lie and tell the truth at the same time. She had them. They had them. They had the twins. The most beautiful plants on all of Gunsmoke. And they'd never let them go.

Time was mostly a human concept. Anything natural operated on cycles. Humans had just desperately tried to pinpoint every instance of every cycle to make some semblance of sense about their own existence.

Zazie sighed as they looked at the mess of eggs, membrane, and newborn hatchling. “Knives…!” They groaned, frustrated as he moaned and pushed another egg past the fatty lips of his pussy. He trembled, numb fingers grabbing the soft egg and squishing it into the ground, ruining the life inside.

Zazie burst into a swarm and collected by his head, Meryl grabbing his wrists. “Be a good boy and stop that. Just birth the rest for me.” She kissed all over his sobbing face, Knives moaning desperately as she kissed his mouth and orgasmed again, pushing a handful of eggs out of his pussy.

Vash had been watching. But he only watched. He sniffled a little bit, holding Knives’ hand, but he hadn't moved to stop him or to help him. Ever the pacifist.

She had let him stay on his knees, legs spread and clothes long since eaten away. His balls had shrunk significantly, a soft gash forming where his pussy would be.

“I despise you,” Knives hissed against her mouth, moaning as he pushed more eggs out of his pussy.

“Shhh… It's okay,” Meryl promised, grabbing a bug off the wall. She bent forward, breasts leaning against Knives’ face as she set it between his legs. The worm rolled the eggs out of the way and quickly skittered into Knives’ gaping pussy.

He moaned into her chest, Meryl soothing at his belly. The worm easily slid itself inside, then further into his dilated cervix. Knives trembled, heaving and gasping. Meryl unbuttoned her shirt, lifting her bra and pressing her nipple against his mouth.

“Here. It's alright,” she promised, voice even and gentle. She let Knives suckle and gnaw at her breast in retaliation, even if it made her wince. She soothed at his flat belly, the worm inside shoving the remaining eggs out of his entrance. Any still in his womb would be eaten or removed.

“Do you want to feel something nice, Knives?” Meryl offered. She untangled Vash's hand from Knives, Vash's brilliant blue eyes snapping up to her. “Just for a second,” she promised. She took Knives hand and put it between Vash's legs, letting his fingers brush the shallow, open wound of his new pussy.

“See? Didn’t you want to be inside of Vash before? You caused a whole scene about it. Touch him, before we do.”

Vash stared at Knives, Knives stared at Vash. He was hesitant, gentle even as he prodded his shallow entrance. His teeth lessened around her breast, idle suckling that picked up every time he was brought closer to an orgasm.

Vash picked his face up off the floor. He moved closer to Knives to let him touch him, then pressed his face back against the floor, closer to his shoulder. The worms chittered in delight, pleased by his behavior. They had all started to worry, but movement was good.

Knives pressed his finger into his brother, barely able to breach past the first knuckle of his finger. His entrance was still so shallow. He shivered, trembled and suckled on Meryl's breast as another egg was pushed out of him.

“Good boys,” she praised, both of them hazy-eyed and relaxing as they stared at the other. They didn't look anywhere else. Just at each other.

“I missed you,” Vash whispered. “I didn't know what to do without you…” He reached for Knives and stroked his hair out of his face. Knives reached up and held his wrist with his other hand, steadying his trembling fingers with his twin's skin.

He continued to suckle on Meryl's breast, eyebrow twitching as another egg left him. He stroked at the virginal, velvet, shallow walls of his brother's growing pussy.

“If you lay the next clutch and don't crush any of them, we'll let you inside of Vash with your fingers and tongue before we get inside of him. Fair?”

Knives lightly gnawed on her breast, then relaxed completely. His lashes fluttered as he orgasmed again, pussy throbbing.

Vash's pussy was just as lovely as Knives’. It glistened, the bugs shrieking and desiring to be inside of him. But Knives had behaved, pushing out egg after egg and keeping his knees far apart while he sobbed and orgasmed repeatedly.

Meryl had Vash on his knees, pussy above Knives’ face that was sopped with snot and tears. Vash looked at Meryl, who smiled, cocking her head to the side.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered to her and for a second there was a pang of otherness, something that made all of the bugs go stock-still. It was something invasive, something that shouldn't belong in the collective consciousness they all shared. White blood cells swarmed and devoured the sliver of remaining individuality.

Meryl smiled a little wider. “What for, silly? Here, lower your hips so Knives can taste you as his reward.”

Knives moaned numbly, heaving warm breaths against Vash's pussy. His cock was still plenty fat and present, the next to go.

But he lowered his hips, Knives leading with his tongue despite his delirium. He so badly wanted to taste him, to savor him, to suckle and taste.

Vash exhaled, making nearby wings flutter. He was still so tense. He had orgasmed a few times, but he always looked like it hurt. Meryl assumed after a while, he would adjust. After even longer, neither of them would want to be anywhere else but where they were. She lifted her shirt for Vash.

“Here. Why don't you try and see if this helps?” she offered, Vash hesitating, but lowering his mouth. He suckled on her breast, Knives sucking at his newly formed pussy.

Meryl was eager to get inside of him, but they could wait. They had an eternity to wait. They could do whatever it took to get the twins to crave this, to want this.

“Good boys,” she praised, her exhale a moan, a lingering desire from when she had only had herself in her head. Vash. She'd always really liked Vash. And now he was kissing and licking and sucking at her breast like a starving child.

She selfishly pressed her fingers to the mound between her legs. She deserved pleasure once in a while too. She'd get it from this, from him. They'd all get it from each other.

The bugs chittered happily in agreement. Humans made children through orgasm, through delights. She should delight in her task to make them brood mothers. They slipped their fingers into their panties, into their own pussy. Their pussy. What a delightful thought, what an amazing feeling. Their soft, warm, wet, excitable, tight pussy. Theirs.

Knives moaned, Vash's leg twitching, Meryl continued to finger themselves.

“You two having fun?” Zazie asked, leg swinging as they sat perched, observing. 

Vash, with his legs spread so wide it had to have hurt and with his ass in the air and face to the ground, had just squirted all over the floor so hard he forced part of the worm inside of his pussy out. But his pussy was so greedy with every throb it sucked the bug back inside. He was so greedy, in fact, that he hasn’t even complained or begged when the second bug nestled into his ass and made itself comfortable in the warm depths he provided.

Knives was underneath Vash, legs also spread wide, the bottoms of his feet pressed together. His penis had fallen off, leaving a soft, delicate, oversensitive nub that was soaked in his brother's pussy juice. Zazie had done him a favor and situated a bug between his pussy lips that kept them spread with its arthropod legs, his clit always exposed. Its needle-like nose constantly pumped chemicals into his throbbing clit, making it so even the droplets of his brother's orgasm touching it made him squirt so hard it reached Zazie's shoe.

He moaned, voice echoing in the cavern.

“I'll take that as a yes.”

Vash trembled, another bug working its way down his spine, towards his ass. They would often fight for the warmth of his body, Zazie's consciousness focusing elsewhere for so long that once they came back to find three worms stuck in his ass.

So they would let two fight about it, but if they needed to leave, they would remove them and block his asshole with a more territorial worm.

Their bellies were beautiful, glowing deep greens at the same time. They rubbed against each other when they breathed too hard, the newest hatchling still circling around Knives’ head like a crown.

They loved him more overtly than Vash. Perhaps it had been because of his initial indifference, but it made them try harder. Vash always seemed rather passive, more interested in his brother or allowing the adult breeding worms to fight for space inside of him. Zazie had even watched as he let twice the amount of eggs get laid inside of him to chase after that rapturous high of pleasure he had long since been owed. The worms treated him better than the humans.

Knives was better with children, so it stood to reason he was better with the hatchlings. They crawled all over his body, before they ventured outside, covering themselves in his scent. Glorious was the one that crawled into his mouth before leaving, to be torn to shreds and eaten was the one that had crawled into the nectar-like consistency of his pussy juice. They wanted it. They all wanted to grow and be allowed to fuck into their brood mother.

The worms wanted the twins, coveted and protected. They loved them. They were perfect. They had made the right call with them.

Zazie came over, boot casually stepping into the ground soaked with the perpetual orgasm the twins were having. The second worm on Vash’s back wriggled into the soft, hot pink rim of his asshole, stretching it out again.

Zazie crouched down and stared at the healthy color of their pussies in the light of the glowworms. They reached out and ran their finger along Knives’ fat pussy lips first, checking the consistency. Then, they did the same to Vash. It was so thick it was like mucus. He'd give birth again sooner than Knives.

Zazie reached into their pants and pulled out a worm, removing the one currently greedily fucking away inside of Vash. It hissed and struggled, wanting more. Zazie ignored it, removing it and dropping it in the mixed puddle of cum from the twins. It set a new breeder worm against Vash's cunt while he writhed and moaned, rocking his hips down into the ones inside of his ass.

Knives stared down at their bellies, gasping and moaning and practically chanting his brothers name.

“Oh, here, do you want this Knives?” Zazie asked, roughly pressing their thumb against his clit. Knives violently jerked his head back and squirted all over Zazie's chest, legs tense and distraught.

They chuckled softly and let go, then tugged at the worm in Vash's ass. They let it go, it fucking back into him and forcing the other further inside. Zazie repeated the motion a few times, the worms getting agitated. They burrowed even deeper to avoid Zazie messing with them, Vash moaning and drooling as his eyes hazed over and he came all over Knives again, forcing the orgasm he was already writhing from to continue.

“Good boys!” Zazie cooed, licking their fingers clean. They ran their fingers along the mess Knives had made on their clothes, fingers in their pants. They gently squeezed their cock, then adjusted, fingering Meryl. She moaned, buckling forward and panting against Vash's pussy. This was perfect. This was how it should be. This was how it would stay.