Arachnis watched as the humans left through the entrance to the unicorn's forest. While nothing had been decided, officially or otherwise, he would like to be at least one of the arachnoids to meet this bicorn on his world. The short period he spent inside the unicorn's forest was one of the most spectacular moments in his life.
However, at the same time, he needed to remain there for his little sister. She was strong in her own right, but at the same time, she was only twenty, still a child. It would be at least another four years before she would be able to start really taking on the responsibilities to lead the tribe and even then, she would fully mature for another ten years at least.
In addition to that, while she always avoided admitting it, whenever she was frightened or uneasy about something, she always went straight to him. For some reason, she always seemed to know where he was, even if they hadn't seen each other at all that day.
Eventually he turned back to head towards the village, wondering how long they'd have to wait before something was decided on who would learn the language of these humans. He hoped they'd ask for volunteers, otherwise he couldn't ask to be sent, since it would mean they'd already decided who it would be.
Regardless, he still had duties to deal with. One of which was securing a meal for their spiders. The biggest problem with the spiders, aside from the matriarch spiders, was getting enough food for all of them. The plateau was barely big enough to keep wild animals to have large enough numbers to feed the spiders they had currently. It was a very delicate balance.
"There you are, Arachnis!" a voice calls out to him as he reached the path back to the village. He looked down towards where the voice came from, happy to see his sister, even though they'd seen each other just that morning.
"Looking for me? I'm touched," Arachnis teases her.
"Maybe but that's your problem," Arachnia retorts, good-naturedly.
"What do you need?" Arachnis asked her, as he started walking towards the village.
"Would you object if I asked mom to have you one of those sent to learn the human's language?" Arachnia asked, as she accompanied him.
"Why would you do that?" he hadn't expected this. While she had the right to request someone specific in this situation, it wasn't something that normally happened.
"Well, because, it's just that, you see, I wanted to be able to talk with one of the humans that was here and if you learn their language, then you could teach me," Arachnia said, making Arachnis chuckle at how awkward she was with her reason.
"You like one of the humans," he said and he reached out to ruffle her hair.
"Stop that!" Arachnia snapped, smiling regardless. "But yeah, Though I'm not sure what he thinks of me."
Arachnis nodded. This wasn't something that usually happened to an arachnoid when they were as young as Arachnia, but it wasn't uncommon either. The biggest danger when this happened was that if something happened to the object of their desire, then it could be hard for them to handle if they hadn't hatched any eggs together by that time. Though, this definitely was the first time that Arachnis knew of this happening towards someone who wasn't an arachnoid.
"What'll you do if he likes someone or something else?" Arachnis asked, confident he already knew the answer, but figured he should ask anyway.
"Then I'll be happy that he's happy," Arachnia replied.
"So, when did you start thinking of him that way?"
Arachnia giggled. "This morning. I think he was looking for Charlie of the Rivers. He walked into the tent and at that time I wasn't feeling very well. I couldn't see well and just wanted to sleep some more," Arachnia answered. "I dropped the flower ring I'd made for myself and had to hold the wall because the ground started to roll and I felt like I was gonna fall on my side. Anyway, I didn't even know he came up to me until I felt him press his forehead against mine. I mean, just declaring his interest like that! It was so romantic!"
"I'm glad that you're happy about that, but I'd still caution you. They might not take that gesture in the same way as we do," Arachnis warned his sister.
"What other way is there to take it? I mean, there's really no other reason to do it, right?"
Arachnis shook his head. No matter what he said, his sister wouldn't accept it. She would certainly be able to come up with a reason why things were the way she'd already determined them to be. He could only hope that she wouldn't get too hurt if his own fears proved to be true.
Though, regardless of that, he'd at least found that he was going to have a better chance than he'd thought he would up to that point for getting to learn the language of the humans. Plus, teaching his sister that language wouldn't be a problem either. If anything, he might even enjoy that.
_
Charlie's felt like she was in a whirlwind. They'd gotten back from the trip and everything seemed fine, though Shirley gave her father some papers apparently Heathcliff had asked Shirley to give to her father. She was interested in learning what that was about, but didn't care enough to pester her dad about it until he told her.
What made her life a whirlwind at this point was the fact that it was Wednesday evening and she'd been dragged to Kohl's. Not just by her mother, but Beth, Amelia, and Hanna were there as well. What was happening was they were shopping for dresses for the Homecoming. Why Charlie was there is that they'd apparently decided to get her a dress for the Homecoming dance as their birthday present to her.
While she appreciated the idea, she wasn't happy about having to actually shop for it. She liked browsing through the dresses and trying them on, but it was the showcasing them for those with her that she objected to the most. Charlie had tried to get someone else to drive them, but apparently her mother overheard that and insisted that she be the one to take them shopping for their dresses.
"You know, pink isn't a bad color, but I don't think that shade is right for you," Amelia critiqued the dress Charlie was currently wearing.
"Amelia's right, when it pulls all the attention from you that it doesn't fit you, no matter how good the fit is," Hannah joked.
Charlie sighed. She'd lost count to how many dresses she'd tried on already. All of the dresses she'd showcased had all been problematic in one way or another. She was worried that if the store closed before they were done finding her a dress, that they'd do this all over again tomorrow. The only thing worse than this going on for much longer that she could think of was to do this all over again tomorrow after school.
Even the aspect of not having to do her homework right now wasn't a real perk for her. She'd actually rather be doing her homework than showcasing these dresses for her friends and mom. Briefly she entertained the thought of coming out with absolutely nothing on at all, but quickly banished that thought. While it might get her out of this situation, it probably wouldn't end well. Especially with her mother.
When Charlie came out in the next dress, she knew it was a bust as soon as she heard Amelia's and Beth's initial sharp intake of breath that sounded almost like they were in pain from the sight.
"I like grey, but just the way it looks on you is awful," Amelia commented. "I mean, it flattens you out, almost like your soul was washed away."
Beth chuckled at Amelia's description. "I wouldn't put it that way, but yeah. Maybe it's because it's just a little big on you, but it really makes you more part of the background in it," Beth added.
Charlie looked at her mother and Hannah and sighed when both of them nodded. Even though she still had two dresses left in the fitting room, this was the fourth round of dresses. Each time she tried on all of the others, her friends dragged her out to look at what else there was before starting the showcasing process all over again.
Charlie hoped that the next dress would work out well. It was white, and she knew her mother tended to be partial to while. However, the moment she steeped out of the fitting room, her spirits sank as her mother vetoed that dress immediately.
"Don't think that I would let my daughter wear something that skimpy to her school dance," she snapped.
Charlie looked at the dress. It may be low cut around her chest, was backless, and the skirt ended a little higher than she herself liked, but at the same time, some of the other dresses that she'd tried on were like this and didn't get this vehement of a reaction from her mother.
Sighing, she returned to the fitting room to try on the last dress. She was already resigned to having to go look for more dresses, but knew those with her wouldn't let her do that until she'd tried on every dress they'd pulled for her to try on.
Part of the reason she didn't have much hope for this dress, was that it had been found on the clearance rack. That rack had never been Charlie's friend in the past and she didn't see why that should change now. Especially since everything that had fit her in the past that was from the clearance area was never anything she really liked or she felt suited her.
The dress was a mini-dress, but it came down like it was a midi-dress on her. It was her favorite color and the fabric for the entire dress was velvet with silk lining the inside. The sleeves came down almost to her elbows and the neckline was down to just the top of her breasts. While she liked those aspects of it, it was still from the clearance rack and she knew that somehow, it wasn't going to work for her. Especially since while she liked how it looked on her in the mirror, she'd liked a few of the dresses from before that her friends and mother found problems with. So, when she stepped out of the fitting room, she was more surprised to not hear anything right away.
"What?" Charlie asked, starting to feel more self-conscious than she had with any of the other dresses. "What's wrong with it?"
"N-nothing," Beth said. "It really suits you."
"Want to grab a few more dresses and see if you can outdo this one?" Hannah asked, an eager glint in her eyes.
"If this one is acceptable, I'm good," Charlie said. Especially since her friends had almost immediately found dresses that they all agreed were good for them. Charlie had been the one that they'd had to continually go back to find more dresses for her to try on.
"I think it's great, so we should move on," Amelia said. "But first get out of the dress so we don't accidentally ruin it."
Charlie accepted that, and quickly changed back into her shirt and jeans, before taking the dress she had just taken off with her. The only downside she felt with the dress was how heavy it was.
"Yeah, Charlie especially needs to enhance herself with that dress," Charlie heard Hannah comment as she left the fitting room.
"Wait, what?" Charlie asked. It sounded like they had in mind to do more shopping and that wasn't what she expected to happen. She was under the impression that once they got a dress for each of them, then they'd be done and could leave.
"Oh it's nothing that'll take long," Beth said. "Just a few items to build on the foundation your dress has established."
Charlie shook her head in disbelief. Why didn't they say any of this before? She just wanted this over.