Work Text:
Eli fluttered through the air under the warm caress of the sun, dancing with the wind on nimble wings and driven ever-onward by an urge he didn't comprehend. He landed briefly on a welcoming bloom of colour, slipping between open petals to drink his fill of sweet nectar before re-coiling his proboscis and resuming his search.
He didn't know what he was looking for, but he would know it when he found it.
On and on he flew, driven; restless. The warmth of the sun faded and returned, faded and returned. Eli stopped only when his body grew too cold to fly, paused only to drink when the wind brought him the delicious scent of nectar.
Day after day he continued on, never giving up, never losing hope that he would eventually find that which he sought.
And then— a flash of bright colour— a complex series of movements— a pattern that called to him; and Eli flitted towards it, joy blossoming in his thorax as he joined in, answering every movement with his own.
He didn't understand how he knew what to do, but he knew it was right.
Closer and closer they danced in their intricately swirling pattern, the blur of colour resolving into a brilliant blue admiral. The beautiful image filled Eli's vision until it was repeated in every last one of his ommatidia, and his antennae quivered at the enticing scent on the air.
This was what he had been looking for.
Driven by instinct, Eli dove downwards, alighting upon the nearest leaf. The blue admiral followed and Eli raised his wings, raised his abdomen up in eager invitation.
He felt delicate wings brush over his own, the leaf bobbing gently as the blue admiral landed behind him; and then—
The tip of the blue admiral's abdomen rubbed against his, probing, searching; until it found his opening and slotted inside him. They fit together perfectly, made for one another; and Eli settled, finally content, the blue admiral's claspers holding him tight.
They remained still for a time, joined together, locked firmly in intimate embrace. Eli felt every pulse and twitch of the blue admiral's abdomen as he was slowly filled, his receptacle becoming tightly plugged by the blue admiral's thick spermatophore.
And when it was done, the sperm packet passed and lodged snugly inside him— the blue admiral stayed. They took to the air and danced on the wind again, together; still attached, yet moving effortlessly as one.
But Eli became restless once more.
A new, insistent urge was growing within him and he pulled away, wriggling until the blue admiral released him.
They remained for a moment— together and yet not, for they were no longer joined and never would be again— and then Eli took to the skies once again, this time leaving the blue admiral behind.
His purpose was nearly fulfilled. He would lay his eggs; he would find the perfect place for all of them; and then, only then…
He would rest.