Jupiter looks at the bee, curiously, her hands crusted in dirt from tending from the sprouts that will grow into a vibrant bush once she is done with it.
She looks back, to Grey, who is sitting on the porch, none the wiser, disguised as Venus, engrossed in a book about laws.
Guilty, Jupiter looks back to the small thing that scared Grey so much. It is a tiny, insignificant creature. Small and delicate, and one she vaguely remembers being favored by Seraphi as a pollinator. An actual native to Earth, it had been one of the few creatures to be left alone when Seraphi had seeded the Earth. And dragonflies, because Kalique had loved them so much. She watches the insect dance in midair, up and down, too and fro. She knows that's how they talk, and she wonders briefly what it was saying as she lifted her hand to gently mimic its movements.
She is shocked as it perches on her littlest finger, and realizes that just like her, it knows. She remembers another spark of memory, the second reason why Seraphi had liked the insects, the vanity in even something as small as a bee worshiping her.
It acknowledges the height she had once held, she realizes, it knows that she is a queen, even if she doesn't hold her crown just yet.
Jupiter smiles, gentle reverence evident in the tiny creature as it crawls across her dirty fingertips. She doesn't like the height she had once held as Seraphi, reluctant to ever think about the fact that she has to accept it.
But she likes to know that something else recognizes it in her. That they see both Jupiter and the woman that came before her.
The bee dances off her little finger, and she buzzes around it, twirling at Jupiter's delight. It brings forward its sisters, and they dance and twirl at Jupiter's commands. She giggles delightfully, true and full, loving every second. She forgets everything but that delight. She is quickly surrounded in a mass of yellow and black, fluttering, calling to her Queen and majesty in delight and recognition as they dance around her. Jupiter does not relish it, does not glut herself on the adoration as Seraphi had.
For she is just seeing the sheer delight these delicate creatures hold at seeing her, and wants to play with them too.
Her laughter sounds out, joyful and innocent.
