#dornuk

"How delightful," Savathun said taking one. Her eyes dimmed for a moment as she looked through one of the million eyes she had in the Throne World. She was vaguely aware of most things in the Throne World but could focus on things when she wanted to know more. "There are ships that just docked at the port," she said.

"Not one of ours from your tone. Which brood are we expecting?" because a scribe was many things, including Savathun's assistant.

"Go see for yourself. Keep the rowdy crowds at bay," she waved him off. "The dock area is always so busy."

"Shall I bring them here?"

"I'm certain you will," she said mischievously. Dornuk had gotten very good at reading between the lines with Savathun over the decades of being her scribe and trusted servant but she could be opaque as the surface of Earth's moon when she wanted to be.

"Very well," he said and flew away. He collected his tablet and pouch before leaving the library, plucking Mandy from the stacks she was investigating like an errant canary. She flew around his horns before settling in the crook of his neck contently. She was not his Ghost but she was his companion.

The docks were located below the Throne World city along the edge of the physicality of the High Coven. Knights shouted at Acolytes and thrall to get back to work and were many times ignored. Dornuk just flew above them to see what this was about.

It was about several Earth jump ships that had landed in a series of slips at the docks between the tomb ships. Dornuk's worm instantly began to squirm in his chest. A desire to be met. A need to be fulfilled. A satisfaction demanded. He recognized those ships. Savathun had buried the lead considerably!

He hastened his flight and saw Hive that didn't belong to the Lucent brood or their Crimson swarm allies on the moon. Rather their chitin was deeply iridescent, black in many angles with flashes of color like an oil slick even in the dim non light of the docks. The Acolytes here had strange branching coral chitin that latticed across their bodies like mycelium, their horns curved up and forward across faces covered in moth-like down. They looked like a coral reef come to life, something Dornuk had only see in holo-tapes and read about in books.

The Lucent brood all wanted to see the strangers. Young untested Hive worked down here and this brood had not been seen in many years. The Hive who worked the docks had never seen Hive like this before.

Now where was he? He wasn't exactly easy to hide! Dornuk had to fly past the jump ships to the end of the dock to find Xolkûn speaking with the dock master, a big knight with a loud voice who kept talking right over him. One day Dornuk's advice to him to speak up would get through but today was not that.

He settled silently behind the offending Knight. Xolkûn noticed him and his eyes glowed. Dornuk's worm seemed to squeeze around his heart. A satisfaction demanded. "Is there a problem, dock master?" Dornuk said within the span of one of his breaths.

The knight spun. For a moment there was no recognition but everyone knew what Savathun's scribe looked like. His long spindly frame, the forward curve of his horns not unlike the strange Hive come to the docks. His weren't so extreme of course. The coral hive used their horns more as face guards, he knew quite well from stories of them bashing their faces into the enemy. "Dornuk," he said, flabbergasted.

"Is there?" he stressed again, this time putting an infuriated hiss into his tone. Behind the dock master Xolkûn looked beyond amused.

The dock master looked at him, looked back at Xolkûn -who schooled his eyes, then back at Dornuk, "This was unannounced. It caused a commotion."

"Savathun saw it and anticipated it. I know it can be beneath knights to conceive of such things but at least pretend you are Lucent Brood," Dornuk said. He was not bigger than this knight but he could float above him for the express purpose of looking down onto him.

The dock master shriveled in front of him. "There is no problem, Dornuk," he said to smooth it over.

"That is what I thought. Now see that your workers are brought into line," he said, folding his arms, the long claws at the end menacing enough on their own.

The dock master bowed his head and left the two, his voice booming out across the docks. Everyone back to work! What the fuck were they looking at!?

"Very scary," Xolkûn said, teasing but approving.

Dornuk flew over to him and without hesitation- before his worm literally ate its way out of his chest- draped himself across one of Xolkûn's great shoulders. Both he and his worm shivered in delight as Xolkûn wrapped an arm around him. Like the Acolytes he'd come with Xolkûn was like a coral ocean in bloom, branching coral formations on his chitinous arms and a great set of horns unlike any seen on a traditional knight. They didn't quite cover his face like the acolytes did but his face was indeed fully covered by fluffy down like a moth, his two green and one blue eye the only features on his face otherwise. More fluff stuck out of parts of his chitin like he was stuffed with it.

"Hello, my love," he said softly as a secret that was a secret to no one from such a publish and lavish display of affection.

"Someone missed me, hmm?"

"Like my own breath," Dornuk said, heavy with praise. He had not seen Xolkûn in several years. The Earthly Vanguard had ordered him and his... fireteam, to clear out the Archology on Titan of remaining Xivu Arath forces and any stragglers from Oryx. To create a suitable landing zone for a larger operation of cleansing the entire moon and also give easier access to Oryx's corpse, mostly just to keep an eye on it. All Lucent brood had been called back from Titan decades ago, the only ones left were traitors or Xivu Arath's hanger-ons.

Xolkûn beamed at him. "I've missed you too," he said, squeezing Dornuk. Then he settled his slight weight on his great arm, still curled against the shoulder of his chitin. The great ruff of fluff about his neck like a protective gorget was Dornuk's favorite thing about him. It was so utterly perfect for cuddling, which he didn't hesitate to do. Normally such grossly public displays of affection would be frowned upon but Dornuk was a powerful enough wizard in his own right not to give a single fuck.

Xolkûn walked down the dock, collecting his fireteam, heading for the exit. There were fifteen of them, some Lightbearers some normal Hive but none bigger than him. They all fell into step behind Xolkûn like a strange sea creatures. He heard them talking but wasn't paying them any mind. "You'll tell me all about Titan, won't you?" he asked Xolkûn as they left the docks.

"Of course. Perhaps somewhere you'd like to write it down?"

"Mmm, maybe," he already did so much.

"Well I'm here to give it to Savathun so I think you will be," Xolkûn laughed and for a moment he almost sounded like his other self, like Gup.

"Of course she wants to know and sent me specifically," Dornuk said dramatically.

"You expected less of her?"

"She didn't tell me."

"You expected her to?"

"... Well. When you put it like that," he sighed theatrically and leaned against Xolkûn's shoulders and horns.

Once out of the docks Xolkûn turned to his fireteam to give them orders. Basically don't embarrass the Vanguard out here, don't antagonize the Lucent, stay out of trouble, and do not get lost. Then with that the fireteam went their separate ways. Xolkûn continued on to the keep, still carrying Dornuk on his arm. Dornuk led him right to Savathun's library and she didn't look at all surprised to see him.

"Why young Gup, what a pleasant surprise," Savathun cooed upon seeing him. She floated down from her reading nook. Briefly she looked at Dornuk but made no comment about his gross PDA.

"Queen Savathun. The Vanguard sent me to personally give the report on the happenings of the Archology on Titan," Xolkûn said so professionally. Dornuk repressed a delighted purr. "And that they want to hear your suggestions on how we should handle the retaking of the world."

"Little moth's friend. You're allowed," Skye said, waving at him dismissively. Dornuk bobbed his head in a slight bow and scurried along the wall out of the main atrium. Skye ignored him, going back to talking to Abyss.

Dornuk went down the hallway to Alak Hul's private quarters. He was still stunned he just got to go there. Mandy floated out of the pouch to fly ahead of him, waiting impatiently at the door for him. She called Nakshatra and the ghost of Alak Hul came to let them in, unlocking the door for Dornuk to push open.

Alak Hul wasn't in the main room when he came in. There weren't many places he could hide. But Dornuk wasn't concerned with Alak Hul. He entered the sitting parlor with its comfortable seating and several boxes of strange City and Hive toys. Gup was sitting on one of the lounges on his human made hand tablet. Pockit. That was what Gup said they were called.

"Xolkûn," Dornuk said in greeting, proper despite himself.

Gup perked up and turned around. "Dornuk! And uhg, stop calling me Xolkûn. Only my mom calls me Xolkûn, and that's only when I'm in trouble," he groaned.

"But Xolkûn is your name," Dornuk said. But he also preferred it to Gup. It suited him. He didn't want to admit how much he liked the name. It was both a deeply powerful name and yet so kind, 'the unhungry one'. Xolkûn never knew the bite of your worm's desire to feed, to grow. He also never knew the fear of your worm devouring you if you failed to feed it.

"Yeah but you're my friend! And all my friends call me Gup," Gup said.

"I suppose I can make an exception," Dornuk said haughtily and Gup giggled as Dornuk joined him on the lounge. Gup didn't look like normal Hive and Dornuk was so curious about it. He had a fairly standard looking body for an Acolyte, like Dornuk, but parts of him sported tufts of down like a moth's. His entire head except for some strangely shaped horns was covered in this fluff so you couldn't see any feature of his face except for his three glowing eyes. Dornuk privately thought Gup had fluff in all the 'correct' places one would want fluff.

"How gracious," Gup said.

"You don't have to use your fake voice you know," he reminded Gup.

"It's fine," Gup said. Such a shame. Gup's natural voice was surprisingly deep. Or maybe it shouldn't be surprising. It was very... compelling. Because Dornuk refused to call it attractive. Because Dornuk refused to admit anything about Gup, the weirdo Hive with a Guardian mom, was attractive.

"What are you looking at?" Dornuk asked, leaning in close.

"Mom finally let me have a GnL account on my pockit. I was watching some clips," and he showed Dornuk, turning the pockit to him. Dornuk still had to get close. Which was the point. Dornuk couldn't just ask for attention or by the Deep cuddles but he could position himself into that situation. Gup was an overly affectionate sort though and didn't mind Dornuk getting in close.

He was also smart enough not to mention when Dornuk pressed against his side and fluff and just kept talking about the silly videos he was showing Dornuk. And they were pretty silly even if they were weird human, Guardian, and Eliksni videos. Dornuk even laughed! Dornuk didn't have a lot to laugh about often but he felt comfortable and safe with Gup enough to do so.