The two spiders that I called upon stopped whatever they were doing to stare at me, their legs twitching and their feet tapping the web in anticipation.
“We’re going to make a shirt,” I said. “I’ll show you how it’s done, watch closely,”
Cellestra giggled at their behavior while they watched me create the beginnings of a new piece of clothing. The ever-so-active Faerith had stopped skittering about to watch me, and even the quiet Myria had come out of hiding to try to get a good view.
I went about things as slowly as I could, using my legs and arms, but not pedipalps to hold things in place. If I was going to have my spiderlings recreate what I was doing, I would have to make sure it was accessible for them. They’d have to use their pedipalps instead of my arms and then their legs.
Shayla simply couldn’t wait until I was done explaining and immediately started spinning silk. It was quite premature, but I did notice some problems arise.
First, they couldn’t summon threads out of thin air as I could. She was using her spinnerets and legs to drag the threads forward to then physically weave them into shape. Without a doubt, this affected the results in an unfavorable way, but I admired her resolve.
Maybe things would work better if I had them work together on one item.
Having the extra… many extra pairs of eyes watching just put a huge smile on my face. The amount of fun I was having doing this was unreal to me. I never could have imagined this, especially with the stress that I had to go through to get here.
If someone had told me about it this morning, I would have declared them mad.
But as things stood, I had a great time doing this, and it also helped to pass time far quicker than I’d expected. I estimated at least two hours passed by the time I finished the shirt and I was overjoyed with the result. Somewhere during my work, I’d lowered my arachnid head into the gap in the webs, just so everyone involved could get an even better view of how I did this.
I’d made huge improvements since the last time I’d woven a piece of clothing. The fabric was nearly perfect with almost none of the irregularities that had happened when I made shirts before. It was smooth and soft to the touch. I admired my work and then handed it to Cellestra to try on it.
“It’s looking great,” She said happily as she accepted it and put it on over her current clothes. “And it fits perfectly, just like before.”
“You have no idea how impressed I am at being able to do that. Maybe it’s because I worked on it so slowly, but still.”
“I know,” She said with a warm smile. “I could see all of it, and you have reason to be proud.”
I nodded and asked Elle and Shayla if they wanted to make something of their own and work on it together. They nodded eagerly and went to work as Cellestra sat down at my side, putting an arm behind my back to hug me from the side.
“So, how are you feeling?” She asked quietly as we both watched the spiderlings have a go at it.
“Much better. It’s… I don’t even know. I’m actually kind of eager to introduce them to my family.”
“They are adorable. I’m sure they will like them too.”
She turned her head to Faerith, who’d remained still near the edge of the nest for a while now, her legs curled under her body.
“What’s she doing?”
“Sleeping,” I said with a giggle. “Seems all that running around has finally taken its toll.”
“You can tell?”
“I can,” I said, nodding.
We then sat in silence and watched as Shayla and Elle worked together.
It became quite clear, though, that they lacked experience doing something like this. An hour in and the supposed shirt they were creating was already completely ruined. For a moment, I felt like stopping them, but I knew they were having fun so I let them continue. Maybe they would learn a few things.
There were gaps in the silk and other places where it had converged too much creating odd, thick horizontal lines. The sleeves were messy, and one had a large hole in it. All in all, there was plenty to be gained.
I assumed it was because they hadn’t done this before as I didn’t, in any way, doubt their ability and cognitive capacity. I knew they were smart and would learn this if given time.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
After another hour, they finished and were just as proud as I’d been, even if their work was shoddy. Nevertheless, I still appreciated what they’d accomplished and made sure to pet them lovingly, after which Elle found it necessary to hug me.
“I don’t know how to break it to them,” I said with a smile and a sigh. “I would just feel mean. I don’t want to be mean to these adorable balls of fur.”
“Just have them try again some other time, and use this new shirt as an example.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “But that will have to be for tomorrow. It’s already dark outside, and in here too.” I referred to the half-darkness that had crept inside. The magic orb illuminated to a certain degree and I had little trouble seeing in the dark, but for Cellestra, it was a different story.
“Let’s try to get some sleep and head out early tomorrow, before Elira is off to school.”
“That sounds like a great idea. What do you think about the idea to get some lights in here?”
“If you feel like getting some lights, then we’ll get some. I just have no idea what would do the trick considering fire is out of the question.”
“More orbs, obviously,” She said with a sly smile. “No, but for real, I think we can find something like them, but more specialized.”
“Another question to ask,” I said, stretching my neck and arms before letting out a yawn. “Damn, I’m in worse condition than I thought.”
“Luckily for you, I heard you can now get a full night’s rest.”
“True,” I let out, looking around at the other arachnids.
“Shayla, Myria, Elle, Amarys, we’ll go to sleep. Don’t hesitate to wake me up if there’s any danger. Amarys, I’ll leave you in charge.”
The protective spider nodded with her palps.
I felt that leaving her, the most serious of the bunch, with some extra authority, was a wise choice to make. If anything, she could stop the others from forcing me awake if there was something trivial that didn’t need my attention. I was confident that Amarys would be able to tell the difference.
Cellestra took off her extra shirt and laid down with me, embracing each other as we prepared for the night. Our warm moments were soon interrupted by an all-too-eager Elle who just wanted to partake in the hug.
She’d placed herself next to Cellestra and placed her legs against my back.
Cellestra was left giggling and I too was amused.
“They are adorable. That’s for sure,” She repeated my words from earlier. “And I’m happy they’re yours.”
“As am I. I’m happy I made this decision, Cel. They fill me with a warmth that I’ve never felt before.”
“I’m happy for you, Kea. I’m happy whenever you’re happy.”
“I know, and I just love that part of yours.”
I kissed her forehead before wishing her good night.
“Good night, Kealyna,” She replied with her soft and warm voice as she cuddled up against me even more.
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My elven half managed to fall asleep quite quickly, but my arachnid half didn’t seem to be blessed with the same ability. I could only imagine that it was because it wasn’t used to being allowed to rest, to fully rest.
But I did feel at ease, being protected by the others, so after a good while, I managed to drift off anyway.
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I awoke in an odd manner.
My torso was the first to be pulled out of slumber and not being able to feel sensations below it just felt strange, wrong even. I was still hugging Cellestra all while observing the vivid dreams that my other mind was having.
I felt amused to see what I was dreaming about: running through a field similar to the third floor of the dungeon, with Cellestra on my back, and the spiderlings clutched to my abdomen. Even though they were large, I was simply on another level, so there was plenty of space for them to all grasp onto me and still watch what was going on around me.
I grinned at the thought, and as soon as I did so, Elle jumped to hug us both, waking Cellestra up in the process.
She and Elira were going to have so much fun together. I just knew it.