The Strangeling Part XX - (Freewrite # 158

Freewriting is a daily practice for most poets and fiction writers, designed to loosen up and get things flowing, like stretching before exercise. Visual artists, especially those who draw or paint from life (figures, landscapes, still lives, etc) do something similar in "gesture drawings". After reading several of @poetrybyjeremy's freewrite posts, I got excited to try these again. Many thanks to @mariannewest for hosting this daily freewrite!
@mariannewest/day-158-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-scout

https://pixabay.com/en/medium-psychic-female-fantasy-woman-goth-1726601/

She turned back to the Wasps. "I need something from you". She spoke clearly, respectfully, no hint of the kind of animosity and fear she had to have felt after her recent experience with them. "Any one of you. It has to be something... personal to you. I need this to be able to trust you."

There was an odd emphasis on the word "personal". It was a charged word in this context of course, but her inflection seemed to make of it an offering, a gift.

The Wasps stood there, looking at her, still as mannequins in a shop window. After a few moments, the boy stepped forward. The other two looked at him, their faces blank. He removed a pendant that he'd been wearing around his neck, a shark's tooth on black leather cord, and handed it to her. She smiled, a warm, affectionate, human smile, the kind that would melt just about anybody right there on the spot. I was surprised to see that she had that kind of smile in her, given her usual carefully guarded demeanor. He didn't respond, of course, just stood there looking up at her. "Thank you", she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "This will work beautifully."

After a long moment, he nodded, and returned to the other Wasps.

Apricot turned to me. "Breakfast first. We can discuss our strategy while we eat".

I was anxious to get moving, but I knew she was right. We would need to eat, and we definitely needed a strategy. But we wouldn't be able to talk freely in front of the Wasps...

Wait. There was something in my head. A sting? No, the thresholds were set too high for that. And anyway, the Wasps had no reason to sting me, at the moment.

Apricot.

I looked at her. She tilted her head slightly and looked meaningfully at the ground. I was drawing a blank. Again, the same gesture. Oh! She wanted me to lower my thresholds.

I considered. The danger would be minimal if I lowered them for a second or two, given that the Wasps had agreed not to sting. I lowered them by a few increments.

Immediately a gentle wave washed over me, a feeling that I received, not as words or images, but as concepts: Wasps. Scout. Follow. Talk.

Huh. It was similar to Sensing, but also different. Not the complex, infinitely layered storm of emotion that Mia brought, nor yet the detailed sensory input that I was used to receiving. More like simply knowing something without understanding quite how you knew it. I raised the thresholds again and nodded.

"Agreed", I replied. "Breakfast first."

The Strangeling Part XX - (Freewrite # 158 - scout)