Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been only a handful of weeks since the collider, only a handful of days since the Spider had returned back to his dark and stormy world. He grieved, of course, but, eventually, he found them again.

Or, in actuality, they found him.

He had just finished up a fight with another Pawn- one much younger and much more corrupted than him- when the first flickers of a portal arrived. He barely had time to thwip the little webbing he had left onto his side and cover the wound up with his Uncle’s coat before he was taken back to Miles’ world.

At the time, he was panicked, worried that Miles and Peter B. had failed. He couldn’t help but be relieved when they quickly cleared it up that no, they didn’t fail. 

He was so relieved, just to be there and be around them- Even if his mere existence near them was a danger.

Shaking his head lightly, the Noir-Like Spider tried to slowly breathe in and out,  his chest stuttered with each attempt.

The Spider was a ticking time bomb, and he knew it. But he couldn’t be a normal bomb, no, he had to be a ticking time bomb made by an Elder God .

Not to mention, he was alone in that fact. Even if he was surrounded by other Spiders, the Spider was alone in the regards to being a Pawn.

He had known there were other Pawns out there, others who had different Patrons. Others who had Reached instead of being Visited , and were given what they wanted- only in a warped way no one in their right mind would have ever accepted.

The Elder Ones were not kind. They never were. They only take, and take, and take .

The Spider clenched his fists tightly, his sharpened fingernails digging into his palms as he tried to even out his breathing. He couldn’t break down in front of everyone.

The Elder Ones Take, and they rarely give back. In fact, the only times they do give back is to warp one’s body beyond recognition.

The Spider fought many of the warped humans, such as a being made out of sand, a giant goblin like creature, a giant bird, even a..

He swallowed. Even a giant lizard.

With his eyes stinging with pain and tears, the Spider grit his teeth and glanced away from the.. color ful crowd in front of him.

He couldn’t focus on them. He couldn’t. His mind was spiraling rapidly. Squeezing his eyes shut, he thought back to the Pawn he had been fighting- the Others had grabbed him at the worst time. He barely had time to throw some webbing onto his injuries before they showed up-

No, stop, he wasn’t going to think of the Others, of his wounds. He was going to think of the other Pawn.

Flaring his nose under his masks, he started to softly tap the wall behind him.

…The Pawn was a little girl once. One who wanted to flee from the hellscape of Hooverville. One who only wanted her parents to stop fighting.

At the very least, the parents definitely stopped fighting and arguing, but instead, they died to their daughter . The little girl who was no longer a little girl fled, and the Spider had to put a bullet in her new, feathery head when he finally found her.

A snorting laugh broke the air, causing the Spider to be torn from his thoughts. With a glance back over at the small crowd of colorful people, he couldn’t help but lean further backwards as he started to stare.

..They were all so colorful . A new word that one of the kids had almost immediately taught him.

Color. A thing that brought pain and wonder to his normally dour thoughts.

Each and every one of them was chock full of it. It seeped out of them with each gesture, each word, each breath .

It burned his eyes something fierce. At the time, when he first arrived, the Spider yearned to see what it would be like without his tinted goggles.

And so, almost immediately, he did take off his goggles, and he regretted it just as fast. It was somehow both nothing like he had ever experienced, and everything he had ever experienced all at once.

He had taken one look at the blinking lights of Main Street, and nearly passed out right then and there from the splitting migraine and nausea that ripped through his skull. He would have fallen off the building if the one in the giant- Mech , didn’t she call it that?- hadn’t caught him.

Within a few short moments, he was surrounded by the Others.

They were all Spiders. All supposedly like him .

His soft tapping grew more aggressive as he leaned even further away from them.

When he first saw them, and felt that instant connection, he thought the Others were exactly like him, Patron and all. He quickly learned they weren’t. None of them had his webbing, it was one of the first things he checked. After all, if they were like him, they would have gotten the spinnerets first, right?

But they didn’t. None of them had what he had. All they had were those.. gizmos, strange goobers that let them shoot out fake strands of webbing. Even the damn pig had them.

The Spider tensed further as he watched the small group joke and push each other around.

They were so friendly with each other. Even to him, to a degree. Touching, laughing, joking around. Other than the colors and the lack of shading, they were all so alike. All so similar … nothing like him.

From where the Spider came from, Hope was a weak thing. Barely anyone had it left in them. But when he first saw them it had bloomed in his chest, and he had gripped it with all his might.

But it was smashed, smashed the moment they asked about the Wind. If they knew, if they shared a Patron, they’d know . But they didn’t. And it had him scrambling to mention the Rain in hopes that he would see recognition. But they didn’t.

The Spider grit his teeth together so tightly. He could feel the edges of his fangs dig into his cheeks.

..Right. He couldn’t stay here. They had wanted a meeting, a time to get to know each other without the looming death of glitches over their heads, but they could get that later, when he isn’t about to break down in front of everyone.

Not to mention, everything was too exposed . Since when did everything become too much-? Since when did everything get too loud and too bright-?

Scrabbling slightly, the Spider tapped the walls even more aggressively before he jerked towards the nearby window. He would have expected them to notice the sound of him prying it open, but, to his strained senses, no one did, so he was able to smoothly and (hopefully) quietly leave the room and climb onto the roof.

The cold air immediately clung to him as he rapidly climbed up the building. Everything was too much, he was too open, he needed a place to hide . Ignoring the painful wound in his side, he frantically glanced around as he climbed.

The lights blinked all around him, and it took almost too much effort to keep himself from jumping and hissing at every single blinking light.

But soon enough, he reached the roof, and he immediately got to work settling into a shadowed corner of the sloping roof.

Everything was too much. Even if this strange side of town was quieter than he was used to, each distant beep or roar of an engine caused him to flinch and dig deeper into the small alcove he found.

He yearned to use his webbing to make his new hiding spot even more secure, but he barely had enough webbing to swing home once he went through the portal. So, he just started to softly tap the roof in its stead.

The Spider swallowed softly as he tapped, breathing in the smog-free air of this world. Trying to cling to awareness, he turned his inner thoughts to the strange clean scent of the air. Even through his double mask, the air was so clean .

He had noticed it before, but he didn’t get a chance to ask then, and he hadn’t asked since. So he would have to accept the fact that somehow, in the next 90 years the city would no longer reek of petrol.

It was a hopeful, albeit worrying thought. Hopeful in the fact it would mean less people got sick, worrying in the fact that it would likely take some major event, tragic or otherwise, for it to be fixed. ..But let’s be honest, with how his world worked, it would be a tragic and horrific event.

Everything else was, after all.

The Spider took another slow breath as he shifted slightly, his whole body leaning into the small taps with slight movements.

Safe. Safe. He was safe. He could just melt further into the shadows and not think about anything. Wait, no, he had to think of something . ..But it was getting hard, it was getting so hard.

He couldn’t focus on where he was, he couldn’t even focus on the Colors or his surroundings. He was supposed to be safe. The Others were downstairs, they were together-

…

A slight rumbling hiss slipped from his throat as the now familiar itch in the back of his head surged to the forefront.

They weren’t downstairs. Most of them were, he could feel them, but one of them, one of them was gone .

Under his mask, the Spider lifted his lips and let out a low warning hiss as he spread himself bigger in his little, exposed den.

“Wow!” An over-exaggerated voice chirped out from above him. “Hasn’t anyone told ya to watch your language?”

Hanging above and in front of the little alcove the Spider had settled in was the bright and strangely shaded Pig.

The Spider just prickled. This was his area, and the Other was supposed to be with the rest of the Others. Not to mention it was so loud . He could barely handle the strange not-shading, let alone the loud boisterous noises the Other was making. So he let out another, louder hiss, pulling himself deeper into his little alcove as he both dug his claws into the siding and puffed out his chest to make himself even bigger.

The Pig slowly blinked, tilting his head. “Really? Right after I just said you should watch your language?”

The Spider just let out a louder warning hiss, causing the Other to shake his head. “Come on, why don’t you come out of there? The rest of the Spiders are waitin’ for us.”

The Noir Detective immediately prickled further as he scurried away from the strangely shaded and noisy Other. His mind said that it wasn’t a threat, but it was too close, the Spider was exposed, he didn’t have his webbing, and he didn’t have enough food in him to make more webbing.

“..Noir? You hearin’ me buddy?”

The Other dropped down to the sloped ground beneath them and took a slight step towards the Spider. It was moving too fast, it was getting closer -

With a loud, almost shrieking hiss, the Spider lashed out . His claws slashed forward, pushing the Other away, away from his den-

“Woah-! Alright, alright! I won’t come any closer- no need for violence!” And the Other jumped back.

The Spider just narrowed his eyes, another low warbling hiss leaving him as the Other lifted up its strangely shaded arms, but more importantly, it continued to back up. The Spider didn’t know how to react, all he could do is hiss as his mind warred with itself to decide if the Other was trying to make itself bigger or surrender to the Spider.

“You know, I think this has been the first time I’ve seen a break down like this.” The Other’s voice suddenly crooned as it lightly tapped its hooves against the roof. “Animalistic, sure! But somethin’ like this? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone act like this, bud.” Each word was accompanied by a tap, a slight sway and movement. “And I’ve seen a lot . That tends to happen when you grew up as a spider, after all!”

The Spider squinted slightly, warily keeping his eyes on the Other. He couldn’t understand the noises, and he was still so so loud, but the Spider could at least kind of understand the taps.

Letting out a long and almost whining hiss, the Spider slowly and shakily tapped back. His mind was too garbled to properly think of what to say, so his stream of consciousness flowed from his head to his fingers.

‘Stop, too loud, too bright, stop, stop, too much, no more’

“There we go, communication! Let’s see..” The Other shifted again, moving slowly, and not towards the Spider, but still moving .

The Spider let out a low but sharp hiss, and the Other clearly rolled his eyes. “I can’t communicate back to ya without movin’, pal, so don’t get all hissy at me.” More and more taps followed each word, and with that, the words were settling back into the Spider’s mind. The Other wilted slightly as he translated what The Spider had said. Grumbling to itself, he lowered into a smaller form.

“The accent between worlds is atrocious. Either that, or your Tapping is just horrible. I can barely understand it, pal.” His voice was much lower than before, quiet and much calmer to the Spider’s ragged feeling ears.

“I thought you had Jumper characteristics, with your jumpiness and all that, but with how you’re all settled nice and snug in that nest of yours? I’d say I was wrong.” The Other tilted his head slightly as he continued. “Jumpers wouldn’t be caught dead cornered like this, but you put yourself there, huh?”

“A Huntsman, maybe? Your speed and aggressiveness..” The Other abruptly shook his head, “Nah, I shouldn’t be musing on what type of spider you are, Noir. Especially in front of you. How rude is that?”

“Here, let’s get back on track, hm..” The other started to sway slightly, rocking back and forth as he continued to tap before slowly sliding closer to the Spider. “I’m no threat, see?”

The Other continued to sway back and forth, over and over before he took another slow scoot closer to the Spider. “It’s alright. Look, I’m such a non-threat that I can even prove it-” It’s voice was even softer as it shoved an arm behind his back, quickly pulling out a comically large and cartoony ham.

“Here-! A gift! A Ham from a Ham, funny right?” With that too-loud phrase said, the Other offered it to the Spider, and the Spider froze .

The Other wilted slightly at the lack of a response as the Spider just continued to track the Other’s movements. ..But it was hard, getting more and more difficult to keep focus as his eyes kept returning back to the large ham. He could smell it. Even through his masks, he could smell it. And it smelled good . Though its shading was completely unrecognizable, he could recognize the smell of a nice home-cooked meal from a mile away.

Smelling the delicious scent, his body, or well, his stomach roared back to life from its subdued nothingness from before. Abruptly, his stomach clenched , twisting and warping and threatening to climb up his throat if he didn’t fill the emptiness that he had long since stopped feeling.

As if he was entranced by the food’s smell, the Spider slowly moved forward.

The Other just pushed it closer. The Spider got closer and closer to the edge before he paused, much to the Other’s confusion.

Making sure his feet were hooked at the back of his alcove, the Spider leapt forward and out of his hideaway.

Claws dug into the warm and hot prey as he sharply threw himself back with his prey. It all took less than a second, but the Spider once more had food in his hands.

The warmth against his chest felt so good, and he barely remembered to remove the inner and outer masks to breathe it in unfiltered. Though it was less removing and more so clawing it off with the desperation of a being thin from hunger.

Nonetheless, he slowly breathed over the piece of ham, letting the scent roll into his mouth and nose. Slow and even breaths had the scent rolling over his tongue, covering his taste buds with the hint of spices and juicy, warm meat.

His teeth ached, the hollow points in them yearning to dig deep into the hot meat. But even with his instincts surging through him, The Spider couldn’t shake off the need to ensure it was safe to eat. The last time he tried to eat something that someone offered him, he spent the next twelve hours curled up in his nest trying not to vomit up the limited food he had. 

He continued with his slow breaths, breathing in the sharp and clean air as he tested the scents that wafted off the ham.

“..Are ya gonna eat it?” The Other quietly, and confusedly , asked. “It’s safe, you know-“ The Other took a step- and the Spider immediately puffed himself up. With a drooling mouth and aching fangs, the Spider let out a loud and hissing growl. The meat was his . His prey . No one else’s.

Vaguely, the Spider was aware of the Other lifting his hands up again. “I’m not coming closer, I’m staying right here.”

The Spider just eyed the Other carefully, before he slowly but surely lifted the hot ham up to his mouth and bit down.

Spices immediately burst over his tongue. Scenting was one thing, but he couldn’t stop the light lilting croon that slipped from him at the taste of warm flesh in his mouth.

After a moment of savoring it, the need to eat grew too much. He ripped into it, feral and animalistic, jerking his head side to side, barely even chewing as he gulped it down.

He could hear the Other gasp, but he was too focused on the food. Food he hadn’t had in days. It had been weeks, maybe months since he last had something this filling.

But far too soon, he could feel his stomach protesting. It was too much. He wanted to, needed to eat more, but it was too much .

Letting out a regretful hiss, he scurried to the side. He shifted, ever so slightly, his good side bared towards the Other as he cradled his prey and fought against the rapid nausea of too much food too quickly.

He needed- needed to wrap it. Wrap it until he could eat some more and then he could ration it further. Baring his fangs at the Other who was still there- why was it still there?- he continued to cradle his prey before he started to rotate it.

He had very little silk in him, but the too few mouthfuls of meat he had would do him good in making more. In a long since familiar routine, his ripped up gloves twitched downwards, his fingertips gathering the silk that was pushing out of his spinnerets.

Within a few short moments, the Spider was rapidly covering his prey with his dark, almost black webbing.

The Other let out a soft gasp. “Oh.. Oh, you don’t have a web shooter-! Oh I should have seen that coming, you’re from the 30’s after all! You don’t have the gear-!”

The Spider barely acknowledged the Other’s words, too focused on wrapping and wrapping and wrapping.

It took far too long, and his spinnerets were starting to ache by the end of it, but fairly soon he was cradling his wrapped prey. The scents were sealed in, the entire thing warm against his chest. The only signs that remained of his once-unwrapped prey was the faint scent of the delicious meat.

“And the fangs-!” The Other continued, still apparently ranting and pacing. “Oh I should’ve seen it-! Wait- Wait.”

The Other abruptly stopped, turning to face the Spider. “Oh, oh. Oh . This isn’t good.”

The Other’s eyes were wide, his nostrils flaring just as wide. “Stay here- okay? Stay put and I’ll- I’ll-“ The Other flailed for a bit, before snapping his fingers. “I’ll bring you more food! Yeah, yeah- that sound good to you, Noir?”

The Spider stared back at the Other. More food? He.. he would like that. He needed to let the Other know.

Running his tongue over his teeth and fangs, the Spider slowly tapped as he jerkily nodded.

The Other nodded, moving slow, and he started walking backwards before climbing down. “I’ll be right back, okay? I’ll bring you more food- maybe not ham, heh heh, but uh, definitely more food. Just stay put, bud-“

And with that, the Other ducked out of view.

The Spider sat there for a moment, the still-warm prey held tightly to his chest.

Stay put. That’s okay, that’s fine. He can stay put. He just.. just needed to make himself more at home.

He needed a web. While before, he didn’t want to waste his silk, his stomach was full now. Achingly and nauseatingly full.

With a quick fwip , the Spider stuck his prey against the furthest corner of the little alcove he was in and he fully turned towards the entrance.

Tunnel. He needed to create a tunnel. There wasn’t enough room for him to make a full nest, but he could at least make his little nook into a proper web. Nodding jerkily to himself, the Spider got to work.

He twisted, ignoring the slight twinge of pain that radiated from his side, and he weaved .

His spinnerets ached, so much, but he needed to have a proper web.

The silk was coming out more and more wet, less and less stable, but soon.. Soon, he had his own little web. It was sloppy as all get out, but it was his .

Tapping slightly and listening to how it reverberated throughout the entire web, the Spider settled down further against the warm bundle of meat behind him.

With his stomach full and his wrists aching, he couldn’t help but relax.

He was safe. As safe as he could be without being in his home nest, actually.

Hooking his claws against the stronger parts of the web, he slumped further into the corner. He could sense the Others in the open yet enclosed area below him, and the webbing would wake him the moment anything came near. He could relax .

He could calm down, force the nausea to settle and rest .

Taking in a slow breath and letting the scents roll over his tongue, the Spider let his eyelids lower slightly.

He couldn’t sleep, not fully and definitely not right now, not here , but he could relax. Relax and wait .

It wouldn’t be the first time he slowed his heartbeat to wait for something. Besides, he didn’t know how long the Other would take to return.

Letting out a low purring hiss, the Spider fully settled down. All he had to do was wait .

Chapter Text

Vibrations and rapidly growing voices snapped the Spider back into awareness. The Spider was much, much less itself than it was before, not recognizing a single word being spoken.

Bundling up further into its web, the Spider glared out of his too-exposed corner. The Other said he would bring food, not another Other.

“So uh- he’s right over here, but um..”

Before the Pig other could continue, the Spider cut him off with a loud hiss. It didn’t want more Others! Even with the nausea now fading, it was still injured!

“..Yeah. That. He’s.. not acting right. He’s acting like.. one of your world’s spiders. ..I think. I mean, some of him is still there, he nodded after all! But he is tapping and I’m barely understanding it.”

“Tapping?” The rough voice of the much older Other asked. The Spider couldn’t help but shrink further into its little den. Unlike with the Pig Other, or the Spiderlings, the Older Other was strong and experienced .

In its weakened state, the Spider could barely hope to fight the Other off if things came to blows, even if it tried to use the Other Spiderlings against the Older Other.

“Yeah. Like talking, but for spiders. You don’t know about tapping-? Ah, look, never mind that, he’s not acting right! Not like you humans should be acting.”

The Older Other let out a hum before it stepped closer to the web. “Noir? Buddy? You in there?”

The Spider let out a low growling hiss, scrambling slightly as it attempted to move deeper into the shadows of his web. It could feel the Other reach out, lightly touching the webbing and sending shockwaves of vibrations through the entire web. It made its fangs vibrate, and it barely kept itself from launching out to attack the Other.

“Noir, can you come out-?” The Other paused briefly, its fingers thankfully retreating from the silk. “How did you get him out beforehand?”

“I, uh, didn’t? I just kind of.. climbed in? I didn’t know he was like this, though! Don’t look at me like that- he didn’t even have the web then-!”

The Older Other sighed as it moved, still too close to the Spider’s web. “Okay okay- can you do the tapping thing-? Tell him that it’s okay?”

The Pig Other outwardly grumbled before he approached the den.

Safe , he tapped, Safety, No Threat, Safe.

The black and white Spider let out an even louder hiss, rapidly shifting from a low dislike to a deep, more guttural warning.

Threat! The Spider immediately tapped back, Threat! Threat! Go Away! Will Fight!

The Pig Other made a disbelieving noise. “Threat-? Kid, we’re no threat-“ Before he cut himself off. “..But we are too close, uh- um, here-“ The Pig Other moved, thankfully backing up away from the web as it lured the Older Other with it.

“We’re no threat, just trying to check in- Okay?” No Threat, Calm, Calm, Safe.

Betrayal! The Spider immediately tapped back. Its body was tense, barely able to keep itself from lunging as it growled.

Betrayal! Food! Food! Not Enemy!

The Pig Other let out a louder noise of disbelief, “No- No, pal, I didn’t bring Ol’ B here to fight ya-!”

“He thinks I’m going to fight him?”

The Pig Other sighed. “..Yeah, I told him I’d bring him more food before I grabbed ya, he’s upset that I brought you instead.”

The Older Spider let out a soft hum, before the sound of it rummaging through fabric filled the air.

Soon after, crinkling joined the rustling before it briefly stopped- and something hit the webbing with a sharp twang through the entire web.

At that, the Spider couldn’t hold back a lunge. Snarling and spitting, the Spider leapt out and grasped the item in its sharp claws, nearly shredding it completely, before it dove back into its web.

For a brief moment, the moon above shone down on the Spider’s face, and it could see the Older Other’s face shifted into an expression of shock.

“You didn’t say he was unmasked, let alone a kid-!” The Older snapped out in a hushed tone.

The Pig Other panicked, “He’s a kid-?! I didn’t know-! You humans are all alike! I only know the kids are kids because of their voices! And that guy’s voice is definitely not young!”

The Older one immediately let out a groan as it moved away from the den.

Meanwhile, the Spider was burying himself in his web’s corner. Whatever the Other had tossed in was now sticking to its hand. The faint smell of something sweet came from the plastic-covered sticky-glob and it was pissing the Spider off to no end.

Trying to avoid wiping his claws all over his newly created web, the Spider reached up to try to rip off the plastic with his teeth- only to stop as the sweet stickiness filled his mouth.

It was strangely textured, but it was sweet . Sweet, crunchy, and old. But the Spider was used to old things, so that didn’t matter.

Letting his tongue dart out to lap at his fingers, the Spider quietly nibbled on it while it listened to the Others argue.

The hushed tones the Older tried to use were gone now, a snarky sharp edge to its words as it tried to continue to fight strangely with the Pig using noises.

The Spider couldn’t quite understand what they were saying, but it was interested in the Older again. This time, not in fear. 

Thinking, the Spider cocked its head. The Pig didn’t bring more food- it brought the Older Other, even if the Older Other brought food.

Shoving the last bits of the strange covered food into his mouth, and ignoring the feeling of its fangs tingling from the sweetness, he let out a soft clicking croon.

The Older brought food. Food . The Pig was one thing with the entire chunk of meat, but it was very different from the Older giving food.

The Pig was an Other among Others, too different from the Others, even if it knew how to tap. Giving it an entire piece of prey was only right for intruding. The Older though? The Older was experienced. Able to Protect and Provide .

Letting out another, but much louder, clicking croon, the Spider grabbed his wrapped prey and slowly approached the entrance of his web.

There, it discovered both of the Others. The Pig further away, stopped mid stepped as he stared at it.

But what had the Spider’s attention was the tall Older Other still at the entrance.

Letting out another clicking croon, this time with plenty of nervous clicks, it softly tapped. Food? Provide? Provide?

The Older stared at it with slight confusion before glancing over at the Pig. “Uh-“

“He’s asking for more food!” The Pig immediately hissed, rocking in place slightly.

“Oh- right-“ The Older immediately dug his hands into the pockets of its clothing, before he pulled out another one of the strangely wrapped food chunks. This one, though, wasn’t smashed between the Spider’s claws.

Clicking slightly louder, the Spider skittered to the very edge of its web before it stopped for a moment. It rocked in place, clicking to itself before it slowly reached out of its web.

The Older was nice, slowly reaching out and letting the Spider take it. The Spider immediately shoved it into its face, letting its fangs rip off the strange silk- it had to be silk, there was food under it after all- and it let its tongue quickly reach out to lap at it.

A quick lick confirmed it to be nigh identical to the last chunk, and the Spider let out a soft croon at that.

It glanced back up at the Older Other. Said Other wasn’t moving, he just had his hands out in an almost calming gesture.

The Spider let out another series of clicks at that, and this time, it cocked its head as it made noise.

Rocking in place, the Spider rapidly tapped on the edge of its web.

Provide? Provide and Protect?

The Other tilted his head slightly. “Uh, Porker-?”

Also rocking in place, the Pig let out a quiet hiss under his breath. “He’s asking if you’re gonna continue to feed him. That and protect this area- I think.”

“You think?”

“Look- the accent between worlds makes it hard to understand him, okay? Just nod and say yes.”

The words flew through the air meaninglessly to the Spider, but thankfully- the Older Other did nod.

Barely understanding it as a confirmation, the Spider immediately shoved the food chunk against the bigger piece of prey and it scrambled out of its web. Completely ignoring the sharp exclamations the Others made, the Spider reached the Older’s side and immediately climbed up and onto the Older’s back.

The Older did move to try and stop the Spider, but thankfully didn’t when it registered that the Spider wasn’t attacking him.

The Older sat there for a moment, before it turned to stare at the Pig. “Uh. Why is he on my back?”

The Pig stared back, before loudly groaning and slapping its hands into its face. “Ah @$&# ! He wasn’t asking if you would protect this area, he was asking you to protect him .”

The Older blinked. “…What?”

“He asked you to protect him, and while I don’t know if it’s the same here, back home, that’s akin to asking you to adopt him . And you said yes .”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh .”

The Older took in a slow breath. “..Okay. Um. We can deal with this. Let’s just.. go back inside.”

The Spider let out a low croon, moving to rub its face over the Older’s neck as it continued to cling.

Continuing to talk to each other, the Older and Pig slowly moved off of the roof and down the side of the building.

Shoving its face into the Older Other, the Spider stiffly ignored the blinking lights that seemed to be everywhere.

Soon enough, they reached a window and the trio climbed back into the building.

Immediately, the black and red covered Spiderling and the Spiderling that smelled like oil darted over.

“Is he okay-?” The oil smelling spiderling’s voice was high-pitched, as expressive as its face and quite frankly, too much.

The Spider let out a loud hiss, shrinking slightly to hide itself behind the Older.

“He’s- He's okay, I believe. Just.. feral?”

“Feral?” The white covered Spiderling asked, quickly following the other two Spiderlings over.

“Yeah. Feral. Uh, look, kids, why don’t we wrap up early? Noir clearly isn’t acting like himself, and I think I should just bring him back to his world.”

The Pig Other immediately let out an amused snort, causing the Older to snap its head over to it.

“Yeah, sorry, B, you aren’t getting him off your shoulders.”

“What?”

The Pig moved to shoo the Spiderlings back, away from the Older and the nervous Spider. “You essentially adopted him, and seeing how he’s clinging to you, I’m pretty sure baby spiders from his world don’t leave their parent’s backs for anything less than an entire nest.”

“Well, that’s just great.” The Older mumbled.

Ignoring the Pig’s actions, the Black and Red covered Spiderling moved over slightly, trying to get a glimpse of the Spider and the Spider did not like that.

Though it fully knew the Spiderling was just that, a Spiderling, the young Other should know to keep its distance. So letting out a sharp warning hiss, it lashed out with its claws and made everyone jump back.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa- That’s enough, Miles- everyone, please don’t come near. Just-“ The Older trailed off. “Let’s just calm down, okay?”

The Older reached up to rub its face before it paused. “..If nothing but an entire nest won’t get him off my back, let’s make one then, okay?”

The Oil Smelling Spiderling made a sad noise. “How do we do that-? I don’t have any way to make silk like you guys. And Spider isn’t big enough to help.”

“Well.” The White Spiderling joined in, “You and I could raid Miles’ house for pillows? For you know, the inside of the nest?”

The Black and Red Spiderling immediately groaned. “Gwen- please don’t ransack my house for nesting supplies.”

The White Spiderling rocked on her heels, smirking slightly. “Then why don’t you show Peni where the good stuff is? Porker, B, and I could make the actual nest.”

“Yeah,” the Older flatly tacked on. “I don’t think I can do that with this guy on my back. While he probably won’t get in the way, I’d rather not expose the feral Noir detective to you guys while you weave. You saw how he reacted to Miles coming just a bit too close.”

With that settled, everyone quickly split up. The Black and Red Spiderling went off with the Oil Spiderling, and the Pig and White Spiderling immediately got to work making a nest in the highest corner of the room.

The Older spider, meanwhile, had turned its head to face the Spider.

“So, kid, how long were you going to let us believe you were a 40 year old man rather than just a teen?”

The Spider cocked its head slightly, letting out a soft clicking noise as it moved.

“..Forever, huh?” The Older stared for a moment, before it snorted, shook its head, and turned back to the weavers.

Settling down slightly, the Older just watched as a giant nest was rapidly built. It was being made decently well. With the Pig leading the way and the Spiderling following its work, the nest was very quickly coming together.

They worked hard and fast, only stopping briefly when the other Spiderlings returned with blankets and pillows. And even then, it was only just to bring said bedding into the half-built nest.

By the time they were done, barely twenty minutes had passed.

“There we go, an entire nest!” The Pig chirped as he jumped off of it. “Now everyone get in.”

With the help from the Pig Other on the Oil Spiderling’s case, the Spiderlings quickly climbed into the Nest and vanished from view. The Pig vanished soon after, and finally, the Older climbed in.

Although the Nest smelled strongly of chemicals, it was cozy, and that was enough for the Spider. Once the Older and the Spider were firmly deep inside of it, the Spider started to move.

Scrambling off of the Older and lugging its food with it, the Spider immediately darted over and climbed up into the furthest corner of the nest. Once there, it found it had an entire blanket and two pillows. Though it quickly decided it didn’t need it. Instead, it immediately kicked all three objects off the webbing and down to the Other Spiderlings.

Clicking and tapping slightly, the Spider nestled itself in to watch the entire nest. It didn’t need the bedding, it had its coat on after all. The much younger Other Spiderlings could have them.

Nice, calm, calm, safe, protected, nest, the Spider tapped, clicking and clicking as it settled down.

The Other Spiderlings seemed to laugh at the Spider’s movements and actions, but quite frankly, the Spider didn’t care. It was safe, and no longer exposed like it was on the roof.

Sure, later it would have to convince the Older to bring it back up there to recycle the webbing, but right now, it was happy where it was.

With a slight hum, the Pig dropped back down to the front of the nest. “Right, before we settle down, we need to close up the front. Back home, that’s the perfect way to make sure a nest is safe- But since you’re the papa bear, B, you gotta do it.”

“Congrats on the new kid, Peter.” The White Spiderling abruptly chimed in, a slight giggle to its words.

Rolling its eyes, the Older Other turned to start sealing up the entrance. With each thread of silk placed, the Spider could feel its shoulders relax more and more.

Soon enough, the front was completely sealed and the nest was awash in darkness.

The Spiderlings were chattering on about something, but the Spider was too distracted to pay anymore attention.

It had a new guardian, a nest, food, and it could finally rest.

Letting out a soft croon but not quite purr, the Spider turned to curl up in its little corner.

With its coat wrapped over itself, and its food held tightly to its chest, the Spider let its eyes flutter shut and as it started to drift off, and the Spider fell asleep to the Others chatter.

Chapter Text

Waking up was a slow process for the Spider.

Curled up tightly in a ball with his coat weighing heavy over him, the Spider had just laid there as he slowly pushed himself back to awareness.

Unlike most other times, his mind felt almost disconnected from his body. As if he was floating, not actually there. It made things hard- made him unable to form proper thoughts as he slowly trudged from the loose hold of unconsciousness.

Shifting slightly, the Spider let out a soft click as he rubbed his face against whatever he was laying on.

There was silk under him. Spider silk, to be specific. It would be normal, calming even, but the problem was that it wasn’t his silk.

The silk under him smelt like chemicals , nothing like his natural him-emotion-strength-don’t-come-near smell that seemed to cover every inch of his own nests.

And that was enough to snap him into wakefulness. Jerking up and away from the strange silk, his eyes flew open. All the while, his head warred with the lingering traces of ferality.

Jerking his head side to side, he viewed the darkness with unrestrained suspicion and a low hiss.

Wherever he was, he didn’t remember a lick of how he got there, and that caused his heart to beat faster and faster.

His chest heaving with worried breaths, the Spider shifted his attention scenting the air. If anything, he should be able to figure out something with his nose. Flaring his nose, he slowly took a deep breath in.

Chemicals . Chemicals immediately coated his tongue. There seemed to be chemicals everywhere , not just on the webs under him. They coated the air, the webs- even his clothes - He couldn’t pinpoint the exact material, but the scent was too recognizable to be anything else.

Shifting slightly, he felt his hair, his uncovered hair, brush behind him against silk- and that finally chased the last traces of ferality away and caused his mind to fully snap back into place.

Much more aware of himself, his eyes darted around the dark room. Where ever he was, it was dark .

Digging his claws into the webbing further, he dragged himself up and focused on what he could hear.

He quickly recognized the five rapid heartbeats that echoed through the air. Two were faster than the others, coming from much smaller bodies. Peni and Porker. At that, the Spider’s shoulders relaxed in relief. That explained the other heartbeats, Peter B, Miles, and Gwen- and it explained the chemicals that seemed to cover everything . The Others didn’t have spinnerets, they had to use machinery.

He was surrounded, yes, but not by enemies. Just the Other Spiders he met oh so long ago. But with that settled, the question was now what happened? And how did he even get into this situation?

With a frown on his face, the Spider turned back towards the small ledge of a bed he was in before. Squinting through the darkness, the Spider could see four things. A wrapped up.. something with a food bar attached to it, and both his mask and uncle’s hat gently placed besides it.

The Spider immediately sucked in a harsh breath at that, quickly jerking down he grabbed both articles and harshly slammed them back onto his head.

Stupid, stupid - how did he not figure out that he wasn’t wearing his mask? If the Others found out how young he was- He already knew how Porker and B treated the kids, he didn’t need to be lumped in too!

His breaths were quickly getting faster and faster, and with a low hiss, he slammed his eyes shut and leaned backwards. He needed to calm down- the heartbeats around him were calm and relaxed, he couldn’t afford to get too wound up and accidentally wake them. If they woke, it would make everything oh so much harder. They already no doubt saw him feral, he couldn’t handle the questions that they inevitably had.

After a few moments of quietly counting his breaths, he finally opened his eyes back up and turned his attention back to the other items. He didn’t know what they were- his memories of being feral were never reliable at first, or if ever, but he did remember that the bundle was important.

With a low breath, he shifted slightly to get a better look at the bundle and food bar.

He would recognize his own webbing anywhere, but why would he wrap something up? Why did his instincts say it was important to him?

Frowning, the Spider slowly climbed off the wall, quickly crouching down and swiping at it before peeling the silk back slowly. The moment he did peel it back, the scent of half-warmed spices rapidly filled the air.

At that, the rest of the memories quickly roared to the forefront of him mind. They were foggy, barely there and covered in the haze of instincts, but he remembered .

And hell, he wished he didn’t .

He went feral . Fully feral. Not the half baked ferality that he occasionally slipped into, No, this time he got overwhelmed, went crackers, nearly mauled Porker, decided B would be a good guardian, and then fell asleep after the others made a nest.

With his shoulders back to being tense, the Spider quickly covered the ham right back up and reached up to rub at his mask.

Right. Okay. That’s fine. He could deal with that. He just.. just needed to get away before everyone woke up and assaulted him with questions. He could do that. Piece of cake.

Pulling the ham up and tucking it under his arm and coat- look, he’s not wasting food - the Spider then turned towards the edge of the ledge.

Moving through the hive without making too much vibration would be hard, but by slowing his movements down considerably, he would be able to make it out of there with no problems.

Taking in a slow breath, the Spider hooked his claws into the side of the web and started to move.

It took a while, and quite a few moments where he froze at any sort of shift or noise the Others made, but eventually he made it to the bottom. Or, more precisely, the exit of the nest.

He just had to step over Peter B, cut open the front, and he would be home free to figure out a way back.

Swallowing slowly and moving oh so quietly, the Spider stepped over the much older Spider-Man and gingerly approached the entrance. 

With a quick swipe of his claws and grabbing before the corner hit the rest of the web, the Spider immediately darted through the long slit.

Making sure to keep ahold of the edge of the web, he quickly and easily attached it back to where it was before.

It wasn’t perfect, but in the low light inside the web, it would be hard to tell that the Spider had cut there, and even harder to figure out that that’s how he had escaped.

Keeping his breaths calm and firmly ignoring the thrumming in the back of his head that demanded he  return back to the nest, the Spider turned and let himself rock on his heels.

Right. He was now out of the nest, all he had to do now was fiddle with the strange watch Peni had gave him earlier, and he could head home and pretend nothing had ever happened.

Quickly stepping further away from the web and turning his back to it in case it wasn’t thick enough to hide the light, the Spider lifted his arm and he examined the wrist band.

It was a small thing, thin and already covered with an attempt at shading. Sure, it wasn’t perfect , but it was good enough.

Now, all he had to do was figure out how to turn it on.

Letting his claws run along the edge of it, the Spider carefully kept watch for any sort of disconnect or bump on it. And after only three swipes over the entire thing, his claw finally managed to hook onto something.

Letting out a quiet but happy churr before he winced and swallowed the following instinctual noises, the Spider quickly pressed down on it and caused a red light to shoot up above it.

That, of course, caused him to immediately jump back- though it was useless as the wrist-light came with him.

The bright light seared his eyes, causing his head and eyes to prickle with pain pain pain .

He let out a sharp hiss, dropping his wrist slightly as he tried to ignore the instincts that screamed at him to return to the nest, they were only getting stronger due to the light, but he had to resist- he had to-

Biting his tongue and shaking his head, the Spider tried his best to shake out the lights that had burned into his retinas- but before he could get a good attempt at blinking the lights away, the sound of a footstep echoed through the empty house.

“..Noir-?” Peter B’s voice split the air like a hot knife through butter, and all the Spider could do was turn towards him and freeze at the sight.

The older spider had ripped open the nest and was now openly staring at the P.I.

The two Peters stared at each other for a long moment before finally the Older Peter finally just shook his head and broke the silence. “I’m assuming you’re back to being yourself, huh?”

The Spider stayed silent, his shoulders tense as can be.

Sighing, B fully climbed out of the nest, not even trying to cover it back up. “You don’t have to hide, bud. I’ve already seen your face- we’ve all seen your face. There’s no need to run.”

After a single beat, the Spider grit his teeth and lowered his head. He wasn’t hiding, he wasn’t . 

Snarling slightly, he jerked his head right back up and glared back at B. “Who said I’m hiding?”

Completely unimpressed by his bravado, B just raised an eyebrow. “I do. Why else would you be wearing your mask? Not to mention, you’ve got your gizmo going.”

“..I could just.. be tryin’ to head home so I can patrol.”

“With a giant piece of ham attached to your side?”

The Spider’s hackles immediately raised as he snapped back. “I’m not going to waste food, B.”

Peter B immediately raised his hands. “That’s not what I’m- Oh, forget it.” Shaking his head again, he dropped his hands and tucked them into his pockets.

“You could at the very least have said goodbye before you left. Not just vanishing in the middle of the night.”

The Spider scowled as he turned his head back to his wrist. Raising it back up, he reached up to the strange typewriter Peni had shown him the night before. She said all he needed to do was type his nickname in, and he would be golden to head home.

B sighed again, taking a step closer to Noir as he tried to type. “Seriously kid, we just got each other back, there’s no need to immediately run away.”

No need? No need ? Everyone saw how he acted- hell, he swiped at Miles . Miles ! The youngest spider of the group!

His weak grip over his instincts shattered as he let out a sharp hiss and snapped his head right back towards the older spider. More experienced or no, his emotions only boosted his more aggressive instincts as everything in him started to bubble over.

“No need-?! I swiped at all of you- I nearly mauled Porker! I nearly clawed up Miles ! Do you know how sharp these are-?!” The Spider pulled his hands up, his claws immediately gleaming in the low light of the room. “If any of my attacks connected- I could have hurt all you! I’m dangerous-!”

B’s eyebrow immediately raised at the Spider’s words. “Dangerous?”

“ Yes !” The Spider was yelling now, he barely could bring himself to care that he was no doubt waking everyone up.

“Do you know how dangerous it is for me to even be near you- I’m a Pawn , for fucks sake!”

“A pawn-?”

“YES!” His voice was getting even louder as he snarled. “Someone that was chosen by a damned Elder God - One that hasn’t been shy to threaten me and change me!”

B just fell silent at that, his expression softening as he stared.

And that just caused the Spider’s blood to boil . He knew the others didn’t know- he knew it- but they, B , had no right to stare at him like that.

“Don’t look at me like-“

“Like what?” Another voice broke the air, this one coming from Porker.

The Pig had stepped out around B, his mask pulled off and in his hands as he stared up at the Spider.

“Like he cares? Like we don’t care? Kid-“

The Spider spat , the angry cat like noise slipping from him without any warning. “I’m no kid!”

“But you are ,” Porker easily snapped back. “Not as young as Gwen, or Miles, or even Peni. But you’re still a kid . One that really shouldn’t be dealing with..” Porker paused, gesturing slightly. “ Elder gods , especially not on your own.”

All the Spider could do was let out a bark of wet laughter. “Tell that to the gods! There’s nothing that you can, that anybody can do!”

“But don’t you want to try?” B softly asked.

“Of course I do!” The Spider easily snapped back. “But there’s nothing that can be done! We’re not talking about Fisk, we’re not talking about Doc Ock- Yeah, they can do damage- but no where near the amount of damage an Elder God can do.”

“We can’t even predict what they’re planning -“ The Spider’s shoulders slumped as his words rapidly softened. “We don’t know anything . All we know is eventually, everyone who is a Pawn will be Taken .”

The Spider fell silent as he looked down.

The other two spiders, the older spiders, just glanced at eachother before Porker stepped forward once more.

“..Does it look like we care?”

The Spider blinked, his head jerking up slightly as he glanced between the two.

Porker tilted his head. “Does it? Look, kid- We know you’re dangerous. Heck, we’re all dangerous. Maybe not in the same way you are, but we are .”

“B here- He knows exactly how much force that’s needed to not kill someone.” Glancing up at B, Porker gestured again. “How many buildings have you held up by yourself?”

B slightly grimaced. “Far, far too many.”

“And I? Kid, I’m a cartoon .” Porker gestured to himself, his eyes crooked with exhaustion. “Compared to back home, here I can’t pull a good chunk of my gags. Tell me kid, how many people do you know who can run into a wall at thousands of miles per hours before just peeling themselves off and Scott free? What about crashing down an anvil or an entire piano right on top of anybody’s heads?”

“And that’s not even getting into my hammer space! Kid, I don’t know what the %#€+ is in there! A third of the time when I reach in I bring out an entire bomb . A bomb!”

With that exclamation, Porker just dropped his hands, sighed and slowly walked up to the Spider. Reaching up, he gently took the Spider’s hands into his own. “We’re all dangerous, bud. And you being just a different brand of Danger ain’t gonna scare us away.”

The Spider sucked in a harsh ragged breath. “You.. you don’t understand .”

“Then make us understand.” B immediately chimed in. “How are we supposed to if you don’t tell us?”

The Spider’s hands shook , his shoulders were shaking, his body was shaking- 

“I.. I.. Can’t. I can’t . If I tell you- I’ll- I’ll lose you, and I can’t . Not again .”

Porker’s grasp on the Spider’s hand just grew tighter. “You aren’t going to run us off, kid. We, I promise.”

The Spider sucked in a wet, sucking breath before he jerked his hands out of Porker’s grasp. With his shoulders shaking, he just sunk to the floor.

The Spider shook his head, his claws coming up to grip at his head. “I can’t, I can’t- I already said too much- please - I already lost everyone else-“

B softly crouched down next to the shaking Spider. “You aren’t going to chase us away, k- Noir .”

All the Spider could do was shake his head. He already said too much, they didn’t know, they couldn’t know, they didn’t have Gods in their worlds, they were safe . He wasn’t. He never was.

Trading looks with B, Porker moved to sit down. “..Okay then, look, bud- You don’t have to explain everything right now. Just know that we’re here for you. Okay? Nothin ’ you’ll do will chase us away.”

The Spider just shook his head. “Pl-Please, I just.. just wanna go home. I wanna go back to my nest, I want DingDing-“

“DingDing?”

“My pet- just- please .”

Another soft sigh left the pig before he looked up at B and nodded. 

With a concerned frown, B stood back up and pulled up his watch. Much more familiar with the thing than Noir, it took no time at all to pull up Noir’s world and summon a portal.

The air split next to the small group, revealing a rainy, windy, and colorless roof on the other side.

B frowned deeper as he turned back to the Spider. “Atleast let us take you back to your home, okay?”

Still shaking and reeling from everything, the Spider just slowly pushed himself back up. The idea of having the Others know exactly where he was itched - but quite a bit of people back home knew where he lived, What’s two more people?

Not saying anything, but not immediately rebuking the two Others- the Spider just shakily walked through the portal.

Trading another look at his behavior, the two older Others just followed the Spider through the portal.

On the other side, they all quickly became soaked from the noir, petrol- infused rain.

As the rain continued to pour down around them, B swiftly shut the portal down and took note of where it was. They would have to return here to get back, after all.

Looking up at the Spider silently, Porker just waved his hand forward and Noir nodded. 

Within moments, all three were bounding over the roofs and swinging when they could- they couldn’t do it often, as due to Porker and B’s.. colorfulness they had to stay out of sight. But after a far shorter amount of time than either of the Others had expected, the trio landed at the top of an abandoned building.

The roof under their feet was crumbling, not from the rain- though it definitely had an effect- but due to age and neglect. 

Though time had tempered the shaking, his hands still trembled as the Spider skillfully crossed the roof. Stopping at the small door in the corner, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a large cast iron key. 

After a quick glance back at the two Others, the Spider hunched his shoulders up and opened the door- revealing a giant swirl of a web. Where a doorway would have been, was instead a giant wall of the Spider’s own dark webbing.

Moving with familiarity, the Others watched as the Spider skillfully unwrapped the corners of the web until a small opening was formed.

Sliding back into his cozy nest, the Spider turned and stopped at the sight of the two Others still there. 

Though his nest had started to calm him significantly, the Spider couldn’t help but shrink as the Other’s eyes bored into him. “..You- You can go now, I’m home- it’s fine.”

B raised an eyebrow and Porker over exaggeratedly looked down at the filthy roof. Clicking his tongue, Porker dropped his foot before looking up with a raised eyebrow. “..You sure? This.. place is falling apart.”

The Spider immediately prickled, his home- his nest was fine . It was warm, dry, and kept the water out. It was his, and it was safe . “It’s fine .” He snapped, a hissing tone to his words. 

“You know where to leave- so leave .” He knew he probably should make sure they would leave, but he was so tired . So so tired. He just wanted to find DingDing, curl up around the small creature, and sleep . 

Quickly taking the edge of the web to weave it back together, Porker let out a quick yelp. “Nono- bud wait-“

With a glare behind his goggles, the Spider only stopped for a moment. 

“Look- Look, This.. this place is yours, right?”

The Spider stiffly nodded.

“And you know where we live, yes?”

Another stiff nod. 

“Then if you need anything, anything- from food, to bandages, to even just a cup of sugar, please come find us, okay?”

The Spider stared back at the small pig for a long beat, before he finally, finally broke his gaze. “..Fine.” He gruffed. “Just- Don’t came back. Leave and forget this place.”

B immediately scoffed, but attempted to stifle it into a cough.

Completely done with the two, the Spider just let out a sharp hiss before reaching out and closing the door with a sharp bang .

He didn’t care that the Others were still there- he didn’t care that he could hear Porker start to argue with B. He. Didn’t. Care.

He just grabbed the edges of his silk and started to rapidly- albeit sloppily- weave his web entrance back together.

He would have to come back up here to fix it later, but he was just so tired .

Once the entrance was just barely sealed up to his satisfaction, the Spider spun around to dive deeper into his web.

The scent of his web, of months and months of work wrapped around him solidly. The scent of his emotions clung to the silk and air. Of calmness , of safety , of him-him-him .

By the time he left the maze of the initial entrance and reached the center of his web, nearly all of his stress had slackened from his form.

Clicking to himself and lightly tapping at his webbing, the Spider just skittered over to the icebox he had bolted into the side of the web and pried it open.

It, like the rest of his food stores were way too empty- but once he had shoved the giant piece of meat into it, it was blissfully full.

Chirping to himself a bit more, he closed the ice box shut and moved to flop onto the bottom of his webbing.

Once there, he started to kick off his clothing. His uncle’s coat and hat were the first- then his boots were pried off, and finally his mask and goggles.

Taking a deep breath, the Spider breathed in the scent of his home.

He continued to lay there for a moment longer before he finally sighed and pushed himself up. As much as he would prefer to lay there- he still wanted to see his little pet.

Clambering up slightly, he dug his claws into the side of his nest and climbed up to a small ledge. 

There, the silk was significantly different. it was tighter, watertight in fact- after a moment of prying up the side of the webbing, the Spider shoved his face into the little alcove.

In this little spot, he kept DingDing.

Unlike what the others probably thought, DingDing was no ordinary pet. No, the little bunny was a frog .

The little thing hopped into his webbing years ago- and it never left. After dozens upon dozens of attempts at making the little bunny leave, the frog kept finding its way back into the Spider’s web.

Giving up on trying to keep it out, the Spider found himself as its caretaker- and quite honestly, he couldn’t be mad at that.

Moving the little plants he had in DingDing’s Alcove around, he finally found the little bunny.

Absolutely bug eyed and lightly shaded, DingDing did nothing to stop the Spider from lifting it up and taking it out of its hiding place.

Blinking one eye slowly, the small creature just blissfully stared up at the Spider.

“Hey, fella.” The Spider softly rasped to it, closing the webbing back up. “I hope you don’t mind hanging out tonight.”

DingDing simply just blinked its other eye.

Letting out a small snort, the Spider just held it to his chest as he started climbing a bit higher-

Reaching a small corner, the Spider dropped himself down in his bed. It was absolutely overflowing with blankets and pillows, and where he kept most of his favorite trinkets.

Swiftly brushing away the Rubik’s cube and pushing his medkit back onto the shelves above the web, the Spider just fully settled down to bask in his pet’s absolute cluelessness.

He knew he should probably remove the webbing on his side, make sure that it was fully healed and recycle the webbing- but, quite frankly, he just wanted to stare at DingDing until he fell asleep.

Letting out a soft purr-laced hum, the Spider tugged his blankets around himself and placed DingDing ontop of his chest.

The little bunny of a frog just settled down on top of the Spider- laying its head down and lidding its walleyed eyes half shut.

“Tired?” The Spider softly rasped, a hand coming up to gently rub the frogs back. “..Me too.”

With a soft sigh, the Spider just dropped his palm over the frog like a small blanket, causing DingDing to immediately lean back into his hold.

The Spider couldn’t help but softly smile at that before his expression dropped.

By now, the Others had definitely left. ..He didn’t know how to feel about that.

While he was not happy they were here- he.. wasn’t exactly happy they were gone as well.

Another sigh left him. “..I’m not sure what to do, DingDing.”

The frog just closed its eyes fully in response.

Swallowing, the Spider leaned his head back and he looked up at the small lamp hanging off his nests ceiling. “..I guess that’s a start.” He rasped.

With a deep breath, the Spider let his eyes fall shut. Maybe.. maybe tomorrow, he can visit the Others again.

Calm the spiderlings, make sure Miles didn’t hate him, and..

He needed to apologize.

But for now, in the safety of his nest, with DingDing on his chest, the Spider just let himself relax, and hopefully, fall asleep.