Blooming Under Night

Excerpts

[[[Important Excerpts]]]

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[[[Important Excerpts that I feel show what you might be getting into]]]

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"Who's Brittney?" Derek asked.

"Um ... ," The man turned his gaze behind them, and pointed to Wasp.

Brittney. Brittney?

He knew she usually went by Bea. It was such an awful name for Wasp already. He refused to call her something that made him think of magical yellow spots, roaming like 'majestic sparkles' around Fairy Groves. She was a pain in his side and he'd say as much. He'd make it clear every time he called out her name.

But besides all that ...

The woman wasn't a soft, fuzzy, flower loving thing, all honey and sweet nectar. She was an aggressive predator. She wasn't some fragile insect that died after one sting. She was a beast of prey - one that could came back again and again. She was a sleek, well fitted hunter, prepared for, and built to - Attack.

'Bea?' 'Brittney?' Hah!

... Derek couldn't wait to hold it over her head. To mock her about it for Forever. In all their time, she hadn't mentioned it for a reason, right? Jackpot.

***

"Where have you been sleeping?"

Derek gaze darted to the side, where Wasp suddenly popped up.

"Why should you care?" he asked. He shoved her out of his space and she stumbled.

"Hey ... ," she complained. Wasp pulled herself up and moved to rest on the seat in front of him. "I wanted to help - if you haven't found an actual place to rest. If you've just been breaking into places," she replied.

Derek turned away to ignore her, looking down at the radio he was fiddling with. It was a small square, with a screen to touch, not with buttons or dials. And it could do a few more random stuff than just talk with people.

"Also, where'd you get the phone?" Wasp asked.

"I didn't steal it," if that's what she was thinking. "Some guy," Derek said.

Wasp grabbed for the radio, and Derek jerked it back. She reached for it again, and managed to snatch a hold. Derek only bothered to resist a small second, before bored, and dropped his grip to let her yank it away. She pulled it towards her in victory, looking about the device with a interested eye, turning it over and over before pressing a button to see it power on: her eyes lit up. She looked more interested in it than Derek had been. She was supposed to BE from here.

"Fantastic," she murmured, flipping through screens with a finger and a small smile.

Derek rolled his eyes.

She looked like a squirrel in awe of Fire. 

***

She glanced to Derek. He was being buried.

So was she.

In Bea's last moments of clear vision, she cast his unconscious body a scornful glare.

"I hope you're happy ... ," she seethed. 

***

"Right. Do you know anything about this?" Rylee asked. He looked frantic, but was steeled to keep his cool.

Bea was impressed. "I do. It's fine. Everybody will be fine (probably)."

"Uh - ," Rylee stared at her, torn between looking panicked and feeling relief. "Well, that's good. Great." He looked around to the rest of the room, then back at her, gesturing to his desk, and they made their way over. "I already tried asking that guy from yesterday - ,"