Cellestra took hold of one of my pedipalps and slowly ran her hand over the soft hair that covered its length, a smile on her face. Her affectionate touches made my heart race and turned my brains into mush.

“Hey, Cellestra?”

“Yes?” She asked softly as she shuffled closer to my head.

“Are you… you know… certain?”

“About?”

“About how you feel.”

She nodded. “I am,” She said confidently. “I’ve thought about it plenty when you first told me how you felt. Yes, I am certain.”

I sighed. “I know. I just wanted to… I don’t know. I guess I wanted to make sure we don’t make mistakes.”

“What kind of mistakes?” Cellestra asked. “How can that happen if we’re both being honest?”

“I— Maybe I’m doubting myself too much. I was…” I shook my head. “I don’t even know.” I sighed deeply as my other pedipalp twitched involuntarily.

“Is this about what you are again?”

I nodded but since I was still lying down on my back and with my thoughts distracted, I realized Cellestra had no way of seeing it. I instead used my pedipalps to nod.

“I get it,” Cellestra said softly in a voice that at least somewhat soothed me. “And I don’t know how I can make you feel more at ease. I already told you it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I mean, I even showed you when I first picked you up. If I was afraid of spiders, I never would have done that. Besides…”

Her serious expression turned into a soft one. “You’re basically a giant jumping spider — probably the cutest species out there.” She continued softly stroking the hair on the limb she held. “And you’re beyond beautiful, both spider and elf.”

“Cellestra…” I said, a tear forming in my eye, as her kind words washed over me. “Thank you. You’re gorgeous as well.”

I was filled with joy, and with it, came my old confidence. I moved my legs and took a step back. The brunette turned her head and her eyes were filled with confusion and sat upright to better eye me as I ripped a hole in the web with my legs, where my head had previously rested. I was amused by her expression but continued without saying a word.

I made the gap large enough and then connected the outsides to the grass below and summoned many series of threads to create a soft bed of silk to cover the ground. After I was finished, I placed my head in the indentation and laid my elven torso down on the web.

“This isn’t so bad. Now, if only I had a pillow. Perhaps I should make one?”

“Is your own back not comfortable anymore?” Cellestra asked, half-giggling.

“It is, but…” I said, turning my head to her. “I thought it would be more comfortable to sleep next to you… if you want to.”

“I…” She replied with a stutter before turning her head down to look at the web next to her. Some silence followed as she seemed to think, perhaps gathering resolve before she nodded, albeit slightly. “I’d like that,” She said faintly. I was only able to hear it thanks to my elven hearing.

I was a bit concerned at her hesitancy, but I noticed a small smile on her lips which was what led me to believe her answer came from the heart and was unforced.

Cellestra briefly stood up to retrieve the one intact pelt and used it to cover herself as she lay down, facing me, a warm smile on her face.

“You can make that pillow tomorrow if you want,” She said softly. “For now, we should probably sleep. Is your vision not obstructed when lying down like that?”

Sure, most of my largest eyes were now under the web, but my head was in the hole at an angle, leaving most of my eyes and part of my big ones to keep watch over my surroundings. Though, there was less to watch now that I had finished two walls. It made me think, would these webs be able to keep out any possible danger when the nest was finished?

“Partially, but I can still see most, if not everything that is important.”

“Okay,” She whispered.

I turned my torso as much as my body would allow me and placed an arm under my head to support it.

“Good night, Cellestra.”

She took my free hand and held it. “Good night, Kealyna.”

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Waiting for morning to come was always tedious, but this time, I didn’t feel like waiting was so bad. Cellestra, while sleeping, held on to my hand throughout the night. I’d even forgotten to cast my healing light spell, but she seemed so peaceful that I didn’t think it would matter.

Only when dawn arrived did I notice we’d made a mistake. We had no provisions remaining. I imagined my parents wouldn’t have an issue with providing us some, but I knew they weren’t going to stay home for long.

I hated having to do it, but I was forced to wake Cellestra up. I tried to do so gently after waking myself.

“Hmmm,” She let out groggily as she rubbed her eyes. “Morning, Kealyna. What’s up?”

“We don’t have any food left. If you want breakfast, I suggest we get to the farm before my parents leave.”

“Crap, you’re right,” She said, shaking her head to force herself awake.

Without wasting any time, we packed and left. I’d really awoken the brunette too early; she was left yawning and seemed a bit dizzy. We had a quick break at the shrines so she could use the toilet there before we continued.

When we arrived at my parents’ home, I noticed Elira’s head appear behind the glass window. I chuckled as I knew what came next.

The door opened and she came running at me. “Sis! Sis! How are you? Will you come with us?”

“We’ll go to Elysa’s shrine together, yes, but I guess we can go to the city together as well. Though, I don’t know how long we need…”

“Yay!” Elira cheerfully said. “Can I ride you on the way?”

I saw Cellestra giggle as the little girl before me looked at me with eyes that were so big that I thought they were only matched by my two largest ones. How could I say no to those?

“Alright, alright.”

“Yay!” She cheered again as my mother appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, Kealyna. We were about to head out. What’s up? How are you?”

“We’re fine. We thought we’d come a bit earlier. We screwed up and didn’t get any food for Cellestra’s breakfast…”

“Oh, dear,” She let out. “Hold on, I’ll quickly make you something.”

“Thanks,” Cellestra and I both said at the same time.

The brunette had a quick breakfast at the outdoor table while my parents took care of the last preparations. A few minutes later, Lilinia handed us the bag we'd used for the steak, now cleaned. I left my halberd against the newly-cleaned wall, and we headed out.

Their reactions to having Elira ride me on the way were a joy to observe. They had shown some hesitation and uncertainty at first, but their hearts, as mine had, just melted at the sight of the girl’s happiness.

“I’ve been wondering,” I said to my father who was walking to my left. We’d left the farm behind and were now on the road to the city. “Why don’t you do the shopping now, if we’re in the city anyway?”

“I would love to do that, but we buy some goods from a friend, and unfortunately, he isn’t available until the afternoon.”

“Unfortunate, for sure.”

We reached the center of the city which seemed even busier than last time. A few more guards were present all around, and there were quite some more eyes fixated on me, and my family. It gave me mixed feelings. On one hand, if Hograd was after me, it wouldn’t be hard for his followers to make the connection. On the other hand, being this close with two people, and having an obviously happy little girl on my back to boot, should make me appear absolutely harmless.

“Right,” I said as I came to a halt. “Cellestra and I will check with the weaponsmith if our items are done. After that, we’ll check the guild hall to see if our dungeon trial superior is present.” I left out the part where we would look for a spell scroll on purpose. Surprises were best kept secret, after all. “Shall we meet back here after we’re done? Though, it’s not hard to spot me, even in this crowd.”

“Heh,” My father chuckled. “That sounds good. We’ll see what we can arrange with the mayor. I hope he’s not too busy today.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Lilinia lifted Elira from my back and took her hand. I patted the young girl’s head and waved her goodbye for now. She, and my parents, waved back as they walked in the direction of the largest building a few streets down.

I turned my attention to Cellestra who had smiled the entire time. “Is it strange that I am somehow more excited about that necklace for you than my own weapon?”