Four months have passed since our fateful meeting, and we have grown closer than ever. Three months ago I asked her out, and she accepted in a heartbeat. We’ve completely latched into each other since then, creating a strong sense of dependency. It’s not a healthy situation but I feel better than ever. Her presence fills small apartment with warmth so there is not much to complain. With another mouth to feed, I thought I would have to work harder but, to my surprise, she is able to earn much more than I could.

It was all due to her recent Awakening, one of the reasons that she left her home. She gained an expanded intelligence when building drones, like her little pet robot. Her family, which she informed me, was part of organized crime, tried to abuse her new power, making it the last straw that caused her to leave.

As we didn’t have a lot money, we could not really achieve the full potential of her abilities yet, So she started working as technician. I would go out and make the deliveries, collecting and returning, and she would repair them at home. She became a bit of a shut in, not that I was better (we are really similar in regard to that), even gaining a bit of weight due to the lack of exercise, much to her dismay (I told her that she look even more hot to me but she did not believe me). All this made the apartment cramped, with one of the corners occupying all the spare parts, and another the orders.

We didn’t want much in life, only to be left at peace to enjoy it and each other but we knew things were never easy. So, beyond work, we trained. She consumed knowledge in an insane speed, while a trained with my Awakened powers in a quarry outside the city. My powers orbited around the concept of Earth. I can feel every movement of the ground around me. The steps of people and animals, the movement of cars, the rumble of the underground trains, everything in a fifty meter radius from me. I could manipulate it too, moving the matter to form all sorts of shapes and forms, at varying speeds, hardening and softening it at will. Allied with my inheritance, I’ve gained a truly formidable power. But that’s only the beginning, with enough training, I’m sure that I can reach higher places, even beating that bitch someday.

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The noon sun came and with it, its sweltering rays of sunlight. The chilly room, work of the much appreciated and overworked AC unit, made it really difficult to get up from the nest. The room changed a lot since we started to live together. Her web composed a lot of our stuff. Our mattress, now a nest, clothes and everything in that sense were made of that now. A little strange, yes, but she was very insistent about that. And they are very comfortable, so I can’t really complain.

I try and get up but I’m stopped by her arms and legs.

“Where are you going, darling? It’s still early.” She says, turning on her side and taking me along.

Now, some may be a little put off, being hold like a teddy bear, but not me. She is too cute for that, and the soft mounds pressing against my back make for a very strong temptation. Just comparing going outside, to the dry desert heat, with staying here in her arms batters at my will incessantly, but I don’t really have a choice. It beats going hungry after all. Neither of us is a small eater.

“Let me go make breakfast, dear. And it’s really late. You should apologize for everyone out there breaking their backs right now.” I say, giving her a deep kiss.

She giggles a little but lets me go, biting my lower lip as I move to stand up.

“I’ll be waiting if you change your mind, fu fu fu~” She says, burrowing further on the blankets, a big smile on her face.

I move to the kitchen and start cooking. A small meal, with bacon, cheese, eggs and toast. Small for us, I mean. This much food could probably feed an entire family. After finishing everything up, I go to the bathroom to freshen myself. The mirror displayed my form, the one I have come to known in the last twenty five years. My skin was greyish, tending to the color of bark. My hair, now an aged yellow, reflected the current season. I am not handsome, not by a long shot, but not ugly either. I am average, so unlike my brothers and sisters, inheriting the looks of my dad.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Hurry up darling” I hear a knock on the door. “Or I’ll eat everything by myself, hehehe!”

Finishing up, I go to the kitchen and sit at the table, now covered with food, in the single chair we owned. On the other side, sits Helen, her spider half crouching, allowing her to access the furniture. At the floor, Mimi sits, eating from her bowl. When she notices my attention her face takes a happy expression.

“Kyu!” She chirps.

“What do we have for today Helen?” I ask, while munching on a toast and petting the smol kaive.

“hummm” she hums, her fingers tapping her temple while her face took a look of concentration. “We don’t have any deliveries to make today, so you’re free. I have some orders to fulfill but think I’ll be finished by tonight.” She blushes a little. “Maybe we could go for a date? And then have some fun after?”

I laugh a little, causing her blush to spread further.

“Of course, love.” I smile.

She nods with a content smile on her face. Man, I really lucked out by finding her. We eat in a confortable silence after that.

“In the meantime” I start, taking our plates and moving them to the sink and cleaning them. “I’ll be training in the corner. If you need anything just call me.”

At that, she cleans the table, putting her work tools on it. Her little robot, Trapper, jumps up and starts to organize everything. I move back to our nest and sit in a relaxing position.

I sink my senses into the earth. Even a few meters above ground, I can fell the movement and vibrations of the planet. Its blood flowing eternal, slowly but surely, its skin shifting and clashing, cleaving apart and together the continents, moving them a few nanometers every second, of every day, of every year. Of all this movement, of unceasing, yet immutable change, I can only interact with its utmost surface layer. In a fifty meter radius, I can see through these vibrations. Helen’s movements, picking and dropping her tools, Mimi soft snores after a hearty meal, Trapper aiding his owner, giving his best effort. My next door neighbor playing on his computer, his rage at losing a game increasing his heartbeat. Below us, a couple fights, throwing decorations at each other.

Focusing my senses inside, I can feel how my body reflects the outside. My skin, like the soil, where a myriad of creatures live and thrive, my blood moving incessantly, distributing its nutrients and giving heat against the cold outside. Focusing even more, I reach the center of myself, a yellow orb, occupying impossibly a single point in space, floating alone in the dark.

Reaching this inner singularity, I focus on all the concepts I managed to grasp on this journey.

Vibration

Change

Immensity

Immutability

Choosing one of them is hard. All of them can give me a lot of strength. Although I feel that can go back to the others later, that same feeling tells me it’ll take time. A lot of it.

I need to be able to protect my new family. Helen is capable to become an enormous threat with her powers, but it will take time, and even then it is not geared to self-defense. As of now I am a glass cannon. I can launch and manipulate rocks at fast speeds, but won’t be able to do as much if the fight is taken to close range. With that in mind I focus on Immensity.

Instantly, I can feel myself getting heavier. My density increases at drastic rate, So much that I can feel my body expanding in unseeable directions, undetectable even with my vibration senses. I feel bigger even though my volume remains unchanged. My head starts to ache, still incapable of comprehending what has just happened.

Feeling exhausted, I slowly try to wake up, recovering my senses one by-

BANG BANG BANG

I recover my sight suddenly, the unexpected interruption leaving me dizzy. I look up to see Helen staring uneasily at the door. She looks at me and we have a silent conversation with our eyes.

I rise up, moving slowly to it, feeling the presence of four people on the other side, likely men due to their weight. My spidergirl skitters quickly to the back of the room, taking a revolver from the bed head. She then climbs to the ceiling, hiding behind the curve of the bathroom wall. She nods at me, and I open the door.