The Stray

2-16: The Spider and the Sentry

Timothy, just to prove his good intentions, spent some time on medical duty in what was once this house's kitchen, patching up spiders, centipedes, and millipedes. And while he hadn't truly doubted her, Ekkhei certainly wasn't lying about the state of things.

<<...Got away, but almost lost a leg to those damn firespitters.>> The millipede Timothy was treating finished her story. <<They've been loving this drought, I tell you.>>

<<I don't doubt it. Hey, stay off this for the rest of the day, alright?>> The witch released the last of his magic grip, leaving its burned leg sore, but healthy. The millipede thanked Timothy profusely before scuttling off, replaced by a spider held up by two others. The wolf blew out a low breath, and got to work.

The witch wasn't a very good healer, at least when it came to people. The most complicated thing he could manage for himself was Kvor's Rest, and that was just as likely to kill him as fix him. But with monsters, and especially his fellow spiders, he had practice.

Well, practice an' the fact he couldn't make them much worse. His healing spells tended to sting badly, and they would leave scars, but compared to a slow death, even that was decent, hey? Cracked carapace melded back together, bent legs popped back into place, even a few broken fangs were fixable for 'im. Looking out over pots and baskets full of wounded and sick spiders and crawlers, he wondered if this was how Mat'd felt during the attack.

Afterwards, he found V in the entrance hall, having a staring contest with a whole crowd of spiderlings. Timothy resisted the urge to coo at the little ones' cuteness—they looked like his little siblings from Deadhall.

But he was on the clock, so alas. "Oh, good, y'got to sit down." Timothy said calmly. The dragoness glanced up at him, which sent a stupid li'l rush of glee through him: wasn't often he got to feel taller than a dragon! It was the little things in life.

"Why are they, like, staring at me?"

"Probably because you're the biggest person they've ever seen." Heck, she got stares from him sometimes for that very reason. "They see big folk from a distance, but it ain't often they see such big folk, see?"

V puffed up a little at that answer. "Oh, I see. Then check this shit out." Her sleeves were torn off at the very start, so when she flexed, there was nothing protecting any of them from the majesty. Or something, he didn't quite ask. The spiderlings oohed and ahhed, though, so there was that!

"I'm glad you're enjoying this immersive experience in my culture." He said with mock formality. V stopped mid-flex to stare at him for a solid second. Then it caught up to her and she barked a laugh.

"Okay, wasn't expecting 'jokey, chill Timothy' after all that."

"Hey, I can't be a downer all the time. And I do mean it, I'm glad you're getting along with my people." After carefully checking that he was clear to sit, he plopped down cross-legged next to her. "I mean, heck, a lotta folks woulda prolly just started spitting fire outta principle." He had to admit it—she'd handled this far, far better than he'd expected. Credit where credit was due.

"Not that I ever turn down praise, but ya gotta stop givin' me credit for not acting like a psycho." The dragoness rolled her eyes. She looked out over the spider-filled room. "Your people, huh?"

He smiled. "I did say I'm adopted. And the ones back home have always been good to me." Good enough that he was stickin' around.

"Mmm. At least none of them've tried to crawl up my leg."

The very thought made Timothy chuckle. "Don't worry, V, they're way more scared of you than you are of them."

For a moment, they just sat there. Timothy needed to rest after doing all that healing magic, and V didn't seem inclined to jump out a window right now. It was kinda nice.