The hivemind is conquering for me?

”Talia! I told you! The party has already started, ugh... where is he?” Janine complained as she entered the bar area. The place was absolutely jam packed full of people, making it difficult to traverse.

”It’s fine Janine, we will find him. Oh I am so excited, I wonder if he will be proud of my progress!” Talia said excitedly, causing Janine to turn to her. ”What progress?” Talia went completely silent, she wasn’t allowed to say in front of Janine, that point had been made abundantly clear.

”Don’t worry about it hun, come, let’s get some drinks inside us! We can ask if anyone has seen Apollo there!” Talia dragged her BFF, as Kathrine was now going to be her boss wife again, to the bar to get some drinks into her!

She was excited, but also a nervous wreck. The way she remembered Apollo, it was like out of a fairy tail. Such a perfect genetic specimen... Her uterus quivered just thinking about being in the same building with him again.

She needed to lose some edge for fear she would somehow scare him off. Humans were quite a strange species after all, they tended to find the clingy, overly affectionate females to be scary or off putting. She needed to show the future father of her daughters and slaves that she was the perfect candidate for his desires.

”Ten of your strongest drinks please!” Talia said as she managed to get to the bar.” Ten for me as well.” Janine said with a smile. ”Coming right up you two!” The bartender said with a smile, more than familiar with the two Sepiidans in front of him.

As the two took a seat while waiting for their drinks, Talia looked around and spotted an ugly man making his way towards them, or more specifically Janine. ”You have another one babes, they are working quickly tonight.”

They were both incredibly beautiful after all, it was the core aspect of their species after all, even the most racist members of Spartari recognised that Sepiidans were beautiful, making it natural that whenever they were in the bar, they got plenty of attention.

Janine sighed. ”Already? It’s bad enough I don’t want the attention, it’s even worse when I am not drunk. This Talia, this is why I like wearing my helmet.” Janine could feel the presence of a man coming up behind her, she was planning on ignoring the man’s advances, but jolted in her seat when she heard.

”Janine? Is that you?” Janine smiled immediately upon hearing the voice and turned around. ”Caleb!” She stood up and hugged her captain tight. ”Ah girl, watch the ribs! The ribs!!!” Caleb yelled, scared he was going to break something.

Janine realised immediately and put him down. ”Goodness girl, what do they feed everyone at this place?” Caleb muttered, causing Janine to brush her hair to the side. ”Sorry Caleb, I got excited, that and my Psionic strength can cause me to go overboard.”

Caleb adjusted his jacket and began. ”Ah, it’s ok darlin’, I am glad you are glad to see me, I was beginning to think you had forgotten about us already and- Wait, did you say Psionic strength? Are you- Mommy milkies!” The man cried out in surprise as Janine vanished before his eyes.”

”Whoa! Where did she go!” Caleb exclaimed as he reached outwards, ending up touching something invisible to his eye, before another invisible thing suddenly smacked him in the face.

”That was my tit, you ass!” Janine said as she appeared in front of Caleb with a frown on her face. Caleb recovered quickly; he was used to being slapped by women and men. And proceeded to defend himself.

”I’m sorry, but you disappeared, I didn’t know you were still there. Oh, congrats by the way, very perky.” Janine smiled, she grew up with the man after all, she was still a mercenary of the scythes at heart, it was how they talked.

”Oh, thanks Caleb, they are perky aren’t they?” The two of them smiled and hugged once more, causing Talia to frown at the interaction. ”What are you doing here by the way? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just wasn’t expecting to see you anytime soon.”

”Ah, we did a quick job for Valerica off the books, bringing Apollo a few presents.” Caleb leaned in and whispered the next part. ”That Valerica is way scarier than Kathrine by the way, the woman is obsessed with Apollo, I’d be careful around her.”

Janine chuckled, Caleb didn’t know the half of it, the woman was a crazy protective when Apollo came back injured.

”Anyways, as we were about to leave, we bumped into Apollo outside and he offered to pay for our drinks all night and well, even if we hated his guts, we wouldn’t turn down that kind of offer haha!”

Talia cleared her throat, causing Janine to turn away from her conversation, Talia was trying to indicate to get rid of the man, but Janine misinterpreted. ”Oh, where are my manners? Talia, this is Caleb. Caleb, Talia.”

”Wha-ha-how did I not see you on my way over. Janine, you made a friend with one of your species? And an absolute looker as well. As Janine said, Captain Caleb Starstrider of the scythe’s mercenary company, A pleasure to make your acquaintance my dear.”

Caleb then extended his hand out for a friendly handshake, causing Talia to look at it in disgust. In the past, she might have flirted with the man a little, he seemed strong and healthy after all, but now... ”Not if you were the last male in existence, get that grubby hand away from me.”

”Talia” Janine said in shock, but Caleb just laughed. ”Hahaha! A feisty one! No wonder Janine took a liking to you. Don’t worry darlin, I was just being polite, Janine would castrate me if I tried to get it on with one of her friends after all hahaha!”

”Yeah, I would.” Janine said flatly, causing Caleb’s laugh to slowly stifle out. Deciding to bring the topic away from his Mr Johnson and the juice crew, he looked over to where his men were at and gestured.

”Do you want to come over and say hi? I am sure the crew would love to see you again. It’s been a real treat for me so far.” Janine froze hearing that as she looked over to the crew, she noticed some looking over, obviously making fun of Caleb for trying it on with two Sepiidans.

Janine grabbed her long curled silver hair and began playing with it nervously. ”Um, I don’t know. Maybe I should get my helmet and change into something else? I-I don’t know how I will feel if my family rejects me.”

Caleb’s heart just shattered into a million little pieces seeing Janine look so vulnerable. He had practically raised the girl and saw her as a daughter figure after all, he was about to suggest a way to ease Janine’s mind and convince her to come over, but Talia clearly did not like what Janine just said.

”Real family doesn’t care about appearance, Janine. Stay here, I will deal with this!” Talia was usually quite reserved around others. Being seen as timid and quiet was another trait humans found desirable in their mates after all. The more subservient, the better, but like around slaves, she could bring the heat when she needed to.

”Oh no.” Janine said, about to follow her friend over, a gut wrenching feeling in her stomach, but was held by her shoulder by Caleb who said. ”I am sure your friend won’t cause too much trouble, with all that cleavage, I doubt anyone will be paying attention. I digress, Apollo asked me to check on you to make sure you were ok with everything going on here. I was planning on coming already to do that soon, but he mentioned that while you said you were happy here, he wanted you to say so to someone not apart from the club staff. So Janine, are you happy here?”

A warm feeling immediately passed through Janine’s entire being. This place had been amazing. She had a job she loved, new friends that she didn’t have to hide her heritage from, her best friend’s lover had even helped her uncover her mysterious heritage somewhat and had ’fixed’ her behavioural imprint, allowing her to be who she truly meant to be.

Sure they were keeping some weird secret from her, she wasn’t blind after all, but she couldn’t care less. She found a second home outside of the Scythes and she would cherish it and the man who made it possible for her entire life.

”Honestly Caleb? I really do not think I have ever been happier than I am right now. I truly feel I belong here.” Janine said, causing Caleb to place his hand over his heart. ”Ok, ouch. Way to make our time together seem meaningless...”

Janine opened her mouth to correct him, but Caleb suddenly smiled and patted her on the shoulder. ”I’m kidding you big worrier! I am happy for you, now look over there, it looks like your friend has caused something, they are waving you over.”