A/N Warning: Death. Like. Very graphic death. Also grief. And stuff related to death.
Ugh this chapter didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to, so I'm sorry if it sucks. I'd be happy to take constructive criticism though because yeah Idk, I feel like this chapter isn't very good. Sorry folks.
Aradia's feet hung over the side of the table as she played with Tavros's little tuft of hair, purring quietly as they sat in the comfortable silence of Tavros's hive, her feet resting on either side of his four-wheel device's armrests. She sighed and closed her eyes as she rested her chin on his head. They only had so much longer together before she had to leave. She gently kissed the side of his shaved head and smiled a little bit as she rested her hands on his shoulders, "I'm gonna miss you, Tav."
He nodded a little bit but stayed quiet and she frowned a little bit as she leaned forwards, gently cupping his chin to make him look up at her, "Hey, what's wrong?"
He rubbed at one of his eyes with the heel of his hand and hiccupped quietly as she climbed off the table and knelt before him, reaching up to smooth her thumbs over his cheeks as he took a few deep breaths and gripped his hands in his hair, "I'm gonna get culled. You're gonna be gone and I'm gonna get culled all alone and I- I don't wanna die alone."
"Tavros. You are not going to be culled. Do you understand me? The drones will come around, and you'll demonstrate that you are in fact a capable member of society and they'll give you your off-planet pass. You understand?"
He nodded and put his hands over his face, taking slow deep breaths, trying to calm down, but all he could see was a culling fork. He felt Aradia's palms on the backs of his hands as she stood up and leaned over next to him, wrapping her arms around him and gently rocking him despite the awkward positioning, "It's gonna be okay. You're going to be just fine."
Tavros nodded a little bit as he hugged around Aradia's shoulders and tucked his head into her hair, "I'm scared… What if they cull me?"
Aradia held him and ran her fingers over his skin ever so carefully and kissed his cheek lightly, "They're not going to cull you."
He nodded again as she held him, humming a soft tune against his head with a purr, smiling softly, "I'll try to call you when I get onto my ship, okay? I'll get ahold of you and maybe we can end up on the same ship eventually."
He smiled, "Yeah, it's not forever... Let me know as soon as you get there."
She nodded, "I will, I love you, alright?"
"Do you... want to watch a movie or something?"
Aradia smiled at him and kissed his cheek, "Of course. I'd be happy to."
Tavros's hands shook and kneaded the arms of his four-wheeled device, licking his lips nervously, casting glances up at the clock every so often, spinning circles around his recreational block with a tired frown, he had another fifteen minutes before the drones were scheduled to arrive and inspect his hive and himself. He briefly debated trying to leave the four-wheeled device in his respite block and trying out those crutches, but the last time he'd tried that he'd found himself face-planted on the floor and having to crawl his way back up to his four-wheeled device with much difficulty.
It wasn't long at all before there was a semi-mechanical sounding knock on the door and Tavros gulped, wheeling himself over to the door and opening it, trying to still his shaking hands as he wheeled himself outside and closed the door behind him, staring up at the looming figure of the culling drone standing over him.
He wasn't entirely certain what he was supposed to do to demonstrate that he was an active functional member of society. He cleared his throat and stared up at the unmoving unfeeling face of the drone, "I- I uh... Can I show you inside?"
No response.
It was customary to let drones examine the home, or so he'd heard at least. He backed up a little to open the door, heart pounding in his ears as he let the drone in, hands shaking just a bit as he wheeled himself into the hive, letting the drone examine his hive and he held his breath, absolutely terrified, eyes blown wide open as he watched the drone stand in the middle of his itty bitty recreation block. Oh shit, he should be making eye contact instead of staring at the drone's feet right now. But god he was so scared. The drone was enormous and spikey and there was a culling fork right there.
And then the drone was staring down at him with those empty eyes and his bloodpusher feels like it's going to jump out of his chest and explode on the floor. For a moment nothing happened except for fearful silence, hands clenching on the arms of his four-wheel device like his life depended on it.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
The culling fork rose and his eyes widened further, looking like he was staring up at the drone with giant globes. He wheeled backwards just a little bit before there was a sharp pain in his chest and his mouth fell open, eyes wide as he glanced down at himself, brown slowly seeping through his clothes and dripping down to pool in his lap as the fork pulled out of his chest and left three gaping holes in each prong's wake.
The drone turned and left him there, shaking in his four-wheel device and staring down at the floor. Soon enough shock set in enough that the pain lessened and he started hyperventilating, breath coming in heavy gurgling gasps as he glanced towards the telecommunication-device. Aradia. Fuck, what if she didn't find out what happened to him? His vision started to black out around the edges as he lost more and more blood, coughing up blood and glancing down at himself. God just looking at the slick brown coating his shirt made him feel sick. He tried to push himself out of the four-wheel device, panting heavily and falling forwards onto the floor, trying to drag himself over to the telecommunication-device, only to find himself too weak and to shaky to do so, laying on the floor and trying to keep his breathing even, face pressed against the hard cold stone as he felt everything sort of... slowing down. His eyes wouldn't stay open and his breathing slowed before he stilled entirely, labored breathing coming to a halt.
It wasn't until nearly a perigee later that Aradia found herself staring at a letter from the On-planet population data center. She sat with her back against the door to her personal chambers she shared with another rustblood and tears welled up in her eyes as she read over the sentence again.
"Tavros Nitram was culled on the fourth bilunar perigee of the second light season's equinox."
It just wouldn't process. There had to be a mistake. Maybe there was another Tavros Nitram. She sat there until there was a knocking on the door and she couldn't even open her mouth to tell her hiveblockmate not to come in, still just staring at it as the words slowly sunk in.
Her shoulders shook and hot rusted tears dripped down her cheeks as she folded up the letter with hands that didn't seem to want to function properly, hugging her knees and hardly reacting when her hiveblockmate opened the door into her back and blinked down at her before leaving her be.
She stood up and wiped her eyes as she headed for her coon, placing the little sheet of paper on the floor next to it as she stripped down and curled up, knees tucked under her chin as she sank into the slime and tried to let it wash away the grief.
And all that could be heard aside from soft ragged breathing was "It's not forever…"
