The hivemind is conquering for me?

Gabrielle entered Hailey’s office and the first thing she saw was Hailey herself, her face planted on her desk as she covered her head with a coat. She walked over to the chair in front of the desk and sat down, crossing her legs and folding her arms. ”So-”

”Gabrielle, don’t.” Hailey said muffled, but Gabrielle continued. ”So, do you want to tell me what I just interrupted happening with my son?” Gabrielle asked strictly. She had to be stern with her competition. Scare them off, that way she had a better chance in the future. However, as Hailey looked up at her, all red and embarrassed. Her coldness snapped and the closest thing she had to a daughter took the place of her rival.

”I messed up badly.” Hailey pouted. ”I don’t know what came over me. We were just talking, he was being sweet as usual. Praising my work as I asked him if I was doing ok and I just looked up at him and... The confidence I felt. I have no idea where it came from, I just went bold and wanted to kiss him... But when you came out, I just panicked. Oh no. Was he ok? I didn’t hurt him did I? Oh I am a shit! He is already in multiple happy relations, one with my aunt and he doesn’t need me. I am damaged goods, he is too sweet. Being with him would only bring him trouble... I should quit. This was a mistake...”

Gabrielle hastily moved around the table and hugged Hailey, stroking her hair comfortingly. ”It wasn’t a mistake sweetheart. It wasn’t. Trust me. While I shouldn’t tell you this as it might hinder my own plans, I will tell you...*sigh* I have been learning everything about my sweet baby, everything I can from any source possible and one thing I know is that despite him being surrounded by all those women, he isn’t a chaser. He sees everyone as a friend, no matter how obvious the flirting is because he doesn’t have to go after women.

I saw it in his eyes after you left. You just left an impression on him. The paradigm has shifted. He doesn’t just see you as Hailey, his Tribune Princess friend. No, he is considering you now as a partner. However, if this goes forward, that will now be up to him. But you better believe that with his lack of filter, he will be coming to talk to you about this later on... Call it mothers intuition.”

Hailey felt safe in Gabrielle’s arms. It wasn’t the same as her mother, but it was close. Taking a deep breath and already preparing for everything that Apollo could say to later, she smiled. ” I hope so.”

...

As a plate of food was placed down before us, Millie took a seat to my right and laughed. ” So Apollo, what has brought you here again so soon? And with two new cuties. Is this one your girlfriend? Don’t tell me you have eaten all my cookies already! How flattering!”

”G-Girlfriend!” Althea stammered shocked at this older woman’s declaration. I hastily corrected Millie to ease Althea’s embarrassment. ”No, Althea is just a classmate and a volunteer from my dispensation.”

”Oh I see.” Millie said, turning to Althea. ”Sorry about that, but seeing two beautiful people together, one begins to speculate. Now then, who is this cute little thing? You know, back in my crazy days, I shared a bed with a Sepiidan or two. Your kind are crazy to say the least.”

I wrap my arm around Janine in mock possessiveness and hold her tight. ”This little cutie is Janine, my Sepiida. I love and care for her very much, so no funny ideas.”

Millie giggled at my actions. ”Oh please, I would be so lucky. Sepiidans might be freaky, but they only get freaky with other women if told to, they don’t really like it. Oh, no offense dear. I meant freaky in a good way.”

Janine had not been paying attention, instead subtly taking in Apollo’s scent. ”What? Oh, no problem.”

With the little bit of introductory banter out of the way, Millie asked. ”So, what brings you here? Did you actually eat all the cookies?” I shook my head. ”No, I didn’t get to have a single one, but I left them unsupervised for a short amount of time and others ate them...” I said, side eyeing quickly. ” In actuality though, I have an hour before my next class and was a bit peckish, so here we are.”

”Aww! Well aren’t you sweet coming to little ol’ me! Go on, dig in!” Millie said jubilantly, prompting Althea to look the woman up and down and ask herself. ’Little?’ The woman was seven feet tall after all.

Althea then picked up a little pastry in front of her. She wasn’t too hungry, but she liked her friend/ teacher. He was smart and being around him was- ”Oh my days! What is this!” Her thoughts were interrupted by the sheer bombardment of flavour that hit her tastebuds.

Before she even realised, she was down to her finger, looking at her hand wondering where the pastry just went. Millie smiled seeing this. ”Oh, I am so glad you like it. I am still working on the beef and potato ratio to get it just right. I can’t have my power doing all the heavy lifting.”

As Althea picked up two more pastry’s she paused for a moment and asked. ”Power?”

”Millie has the ability to enhance foods with her Psionics making them taste beyond pleasurable. Probably the best food I have ever eaten.” I explained. And as I did so the bell to the front of the shop dinged and a few patrons entered.

”Oh, such a sweet talker you. Now enjoy these and I will be right back, let me just see to them for a moment.” Then in a big moment for her, she reached over and patted the top of my hand with a smile and walked away.

Due to yesterday’s flinching accident. I felt beyond honoured that she felt comfortable touching me today without flinching again. I am not sure what I did to earn her trust, but It meant a lot either way.

...

Ten minutes later and a very empty plate of pastry’s and cookies, Millie walked over and sat back down. ”Was everything to your liking?” She asked rhetorically as everyone had clear delight on their faces.

To her those looks were better than any she had ever received during intimacy. For she knew these were real. Authentic Nothing brought her more joy... Her eyes wandered to Apollo patting his stomach, looking up at her with a smile. It would be especially true if...

”Oh, Apollo. I thought over your proposition. I accept. Uh, as long as I don’t need to leave the bakery, I am not going outside.”

It took me a moment to process what she meant before my smile threatened to break my face in half. ”Wait Really! Oh, thank you so much, your data will be perfect for my dispensation work. Nerissa, can you manifest a needle and blood bag for me please?”

Hearing dispensation, Althea sat upright and became alert. ”What’s this? about your dispensation?” She asked, prompting my response. ”Oh, I was going to tell you all tomorrow, but I will be needing blood from each of you, just a baggie to help with my work. I need as many variables as possible from a multitude of age groups. I asked Millie yesterday casually because she is a little bit older than us-” ”-Good choice of words.-” Millie interjected, causing me to smile as I continued. ” And I will ask others from various age ranges for their blood as well. Basically the more blood I get from a large net of individuals, the easier my basic results I can give to the government will be so I can then focus on more complex stuff that the government won’t even bother taking a look at.”

Althea then looked at the needle and blood bag that was just handed over to Apollo and shook her head. ”While most of the time, I wouldn’t mind seeing blood, after eating so much pastry is not a good time. Apollo, I look forward to tomorrow, but I am going to go to the library before all this food that I have eaten forces me to go and take a nap. Millie, It has been a pleasure to meet you and I am definitely making this place my dining spot. I can’t go back to the mess hall now... Orchid, it was nice to meet you as well . Janine, nice to see you again and Pr-Ne...” Althea ended on Nerissa and seemed unsure of how to address her. In the end she just bowed awkwardly and left the bakery.

After she left, Millie hummed in agreement. ”The nice woman makes a good point, I wouldn’t want one of my customers seeing a big bag of blood as they enter. Come, let’s go to the back room, we can do it there.”