Re-Entering the Hive

As Fire waited in line to re-enter the Hive, he spotted Boulder among the guards on duty. Assigned by birth as a soldier, Boulder had been raised alongside him, though they’d always had a distant relationship. Fed a different diet than the rest, Boulder was much bigger and tougher-looking. Fire hated his arrogant, overconfident, perpetually-in-challenge-mode face. He would have much rather met someone he didn’t know.

“Raise your arms!” Boulder said, holding a club in his right hand and avoiding eye contact.

“C’mon, we’ve known each other since we were larvae,” Fire replied.

“For all I know, you could be a stinky flea person in disguise. Raise your arms!”

“Seriously, dude?” Reluctantly, Fire did as ordered. With his left arm, Boulder yanked Fire’s arm up even higher, then hunched down and took a big, deep sniff of Fire’s left armpit. “Turn around,” he said, sniffing Fire’s right armpit next. “Yuck!” he exclaimed with disgust. “Alright, you’re one of us. You may come inside.”

“Thanks,” Fire said, glaring at him with piercing eyes after the unnecessary, humiliating ordeal. As he passed through, Boulder looked up with a barely contained smirk, his hands placed behind his back, like a soldier at ease.