Honeybee | Wanda Maximoff {AU}

Chapter Five: Pluto

Music is "Never Be The Same" by Camila Cabello.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Megachile Pluto

Commonly referred to as Wallace's giant bee, Megachile Pluto is the largest living bee species. A native of Indonesia, it was believed to be extinct until it's rediscovery in 1981. M. Pluto is known to build communal nests inside active nests of tree-dwelling termites, forcing the two species to live together in a shared space.

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Chapter Five: Pluto

The rest of the day's classes fly by. After Professor Maximoff's class, I only had one other, and that was a basic English class. Every now and then, I hear the bees buzzing again. Yet every time I look around for the mischievous insects, I can't find them. Either they're very good at hiding, or I'm going fucking insane. I know which option I'd put my money on.

I don't see Wanda for the rest of the day until I head back to the dorm just before dinner. When I get there, the door is ajar and she's sitting on the bed with a textbook on her lab.

"I heard you got locked out last night," she says as I slip inside. "Sorry about that." She gestures to the small, metal key on my bed. "There's an extra if you need it."

I swipe up the key and place it in my pocket. "Thank you," I sign.

This time, Wanda smiles and nods. "No problem."

I tilt my head to the side. "You understand ASL?"

Wanda moves her hands from her book to sign the words, "I can sign, too," in the air.

It brings a big smile to my face. "I thought you couldn't understand me. You didn't respond at the lecture hall."

She shrugs. "I didn't know what to say."

I turn and crawl onto my bed, tugging my textbooks from my bag and opening my notebooks. "My name is Sarai."

"Oh, I know," Wanda laughs. "And I'm sure you know, by now, that my name is Wanda, but it's nice to meet you, Sarai." She picks up her textbook and shakes it slightly. The title reads Bees and Other Pollinating Insects by Hope Van Dyne. "I guess that makes you and me partners, then."

I nod, resisting the urge to ask the question I've been dying to ask since I saw Professor Maximoff's name. "I would love to go to that Eco Innovations Fair. Fixing the environment is right up my alley."

"Then we should get started right away," Wanda insists, patting the spot on her bed across from her. "Come on, bring your notes. Let's pick our insect and then go get something to eat. I'm hungry."

A hint of pink spreads across my cheeks, but I turn away to hide it as I collect my things. Wanda and I face each other, sitting cross-legged with our notebooks in our laps and the large textbook between us. It shows a flowchart of all the different types of pollinating insects: everything from bees, butterflies, and beetles to moths, wasps, and flies. We can pick from any of them, but my heart keeps going back to the honeybee illustration Maximoff used at the beginning of his lecture.

As if reading my mind, Wanda points to the honeybee at the top of the page. "I can't get this one out of my mind," she tells me. "For our project: what do you think?"

"You don't think it's too common?" I ask, looking up at her.

She shakes her head with a small grin. "My uncle's favorite insect is the honeybee. If we can blow him away with this choice, those tickets to the Fair are as good as ours."