Work Text:
"Ayiiiiin..."
Ayin looked over to his office door.
Carmen was on the other side of the open doorway with her head tilted down slightly and wearing her best puppy dog face that made Ayin immediately put down his work.
He moves his hands to speak, "What's wrong?"
She waves her hand over, "I found a spider in my office," She says as if this is supposed to explain something.
Ayin blinks, "Where?"
"On my ceiling. It's distracting me and I need it out of my office," She looks around, "and I don't think we have any vacuum cleaner here. Can you get it down for me?" She looks hopeful but not quite sure how he'll respond. It only took him five seconds to decide he should help because Carmen seemed upset about this. And besides, he didn't like having spiders in his office either.
He nods and gets up from his chair, moving to meet Carmen. She smiles, "Thank you, A."
The two make their way to her bigger office, there was clutter on her desk (mostly paperwork). It's... Messy. He looks up and sees no spider on the ceiling.
"Ah. It must've moved. Let's go look for it!" She begins picking up her clutter, trying to figure out where it went. She puts papers into piles and tosses a few of them into filing cabinets. He follows suit, finding nothing in a few places that weren't already messy but also didn't appear to be in the middle of nowhere.
It wasn't until Carmen announces her findings, pointing at the moving dot, "There you are!" that Ayin realized the spider was sitting behind a bunch of folders and papers on the floor.
Ayin picks a book up from her desk, but Carmen stops him and takes the books off his hands, "Don't kill it, silly!"
So she puts the book down.
"It's not fair to kill it. It's probably scared of us since we're so big and it's so small! Imagine if you're a spider! Do you think it's fair to be killed because you're a spider?"
Ayin sighs. So no killing the spider. He wonders how he's going to catch it. He looks around for anything else that might be useful, there was the broom closet...
The spider was already scuttling away, jumping, once he realizes it was moving. Ayin grabs an empty mug of hers and walks towards it, hoping Carmen would follow him but she hasn't taken her eyes off of him. Without a second thought, he traps the spider in the mug.
"Nice! You got it!"
He points at it, "Out?" He motions to her.
"Oh, yeah. For the best!"
With that, Ayin takes a random folder and carefully slides it under the mug, successfully making the trapped spider transportable. He'll just let it outside. Which might take a bit. There are little to no windows in this building. He supposes when he gets ready to leave is the best time to let the thing go.
So he takes the spider with him.
"Thanks, Ayin! You're a lifesaver!"
It was fucking snowing outside.
Just great.
With the spider in a new, more transparent container, he leaves the building. Now that he has a new one, he thinks that the spider may have a chance to survive the cold. Or maybe not. He doesn't know too much about spiders. Especially this one. Ayin pulls up the collar of his jacket, trying to prevent any more cold air to attack him. It doesn't seem to be doing much though. He's never been very fond of being cold anyway. It's a bit of a walk for him to take to get back to his living space. He's been considering packing up his things and moving in with Carmen. He did agree to help her with her endeavors, after all. He just lives a little too far from her.
Keeping the container close, he takes his usual train home. The walk afterward is relatively uneventful, the only thing occupying his mind is his thoughts of when he's able to set the spider free. Being stomped on would be a bad way to die... Freezing to death also was. But freezing to death was slow and painful.
At least the spider had some company. That's what matters. After all, it wasn't going to die alone, right...?
When he arrives at his apartment, he steps inside and turns on the heater. It wasn't a big space, what would a single person need with so much space, anyway? It was almost partially empty too, boxes were strewn about. Of course, his mess was bigger than Carmen's office clutter. He was going to move out. Change is always happening, it has to be welcomed.
It's just the process of it is difficult.
Sucks that he had to get evicted, really. He had no way to argue. Nobody here understood sign language. They were taking advantage of that fact. He didn't like arguments anyway. Probably for the best to leave.
He has to ask Carmen for help eventually.
With the few things he hadn't packed up yet, he places the spider container on the coffee table. He then removes his jacket and hangs it on a nearby hook. He sets his bag down next to it, and finally collapses onto the couch.
There's a moment of silence, as silent as it could be. Ayin wants to rest, he is pretty tired.
...
He could hear the spider scuttle around in the container. It must have gotten restless by now. Good thing he had the container ready. The thought of that makes his mind wander. He imagines what it's like to be a spider. Imagining himself crawling his way out of the container and getting comfortable on whatever surface he can find.
He thinks of how fuzzy and cute the spider is. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to keep the damn spider. He could give it food and water. Hell, he could even teach it sign language. Maybe. He could do so many things with the spider. But it wouldn't be a good idea. After all, it had the one thing Ayin could only dream of having.
Freedom.
And that wasn't for him. It would still belong to the spider. He needed to think of what to feed the spider when he woke up. He supposes he'll research that later. For now, he wants to sleep. His body needs it.
As he lays on the couch, Ayin falls asleep.
And he dreams.
"... So I told you, no matter what happens... You need to stay safe!" Carmen said.
"You can't blame yourself when someone else gets hurt," Ayin's hands were shaky, he got hurt before that interaction with Carmen, though the context doesn't cross his mind at the moment, "even if you were just a little late, it would've happened either way."
"How do you know?"
Ayin sighed as he rubs his face in mild frustration, before using those hands to sign again, "That's that. And this is this," He claps his hands together, and signs again, "and I am still here," he holds up three fingers, "no matter what happens." He repeats in sign language for good measure.
Carmen shakes her head. Her arms fall to her side as she looks down and sighs heavily. She doesn't say anything and she doesn't turn her eyes from the ground. Ayin frowns slightly, wondering if she's alright or not. His hand moves slowly through the air, trying to show support. He's unsure if she understands. But eventually, she does turn her eyes back to him. Tears begin to fill her eyes. Is she crying? Why did she suddenly become emotional?
She hugs him tightly. Ayin is surprised at first. He doesn't understand why she's hugging him so suddenly. But quickly relaxes and hugs her back. They stand like that for a while, both of them comforting each other.
Eventually, they separate, though they're still holding each other close. Their bodies pressed against each other. Their foreheads touching. "...You're right. But I won't forgive myself if you get caught in this kind of situation again, Ayin. You're the only person who has my back on my idea. I couldn't bear losing you."
He puts his hand into a fist and rubs it in a circular motion across his chest in apology.
"You don't need to apologize. Just please promise me..."
Ayin tilts his head.
"Promise me you'll be careful, okay?"
A smile appears on his lips as he nods.
"Okay," She smiles too, "thank you."
Ayin awakens to a loud thud in his kitchen.
He sits up groggily. What time is it?
Looking around, he sees it's still dark through the blinds, the fridge light was on. He stretches, yawning loudly, his bones cracking. He looks beside him. No sleeping spider. The container was off the table, and when sits up he sees that the container was torn apart.
He decides to check out the noise. He quietly, carefully walks to make little noise, trying to avoid disturbing whatever was in his kitchen. When he reaches the entrance of the kitchen, he slowly opens the curtains that lead into the kitchen. A small part of him had hoped this intruder wouldn't have noticed him but there's no sign of anybody outside. His apartment door was closed and locked as he remembered leaving it. Still, it isn't until he sees the kitchen more that he grows concerned.
The sink is running and garbage bags were knocked over. A few pieces of trash were all over the floor.
What a mess.
He spots the nearest object that feels can be enough to be used as a weapon: The frying pan. As he moves to grab it, glass is dropped by whoever was going through his fridge. The sounds make him gasp in shock, dropping what little grasp he had on the pan. He immediately tries to pick it up again, hoping the intruder didn't just hear the loud noise he had made.
But the rustling through the fridge stopped.
Ayin watches as a head peeks from the edge of the fridge door, monster-like, with multiple pairs of eyes looking back at him in the dark, not unlike a spider's eyes. He felt like his heart stopped right then and there.
He gulps and clutches the frying pan once again, not wanting to accidentally swing the pan towards it to aggravate it.
The sound of the fridge closing rings in his ears, echoing loudly around his apartment. There was little light to see the figure now, much to leave to the imagination.
There's an inhuman noise, something between a snarl and growl. Slowly, the monster begins to approach. All he sees is darkness, save for the glowing green eyes that watch him carefully.
He could hear his heartbeat pulsating in his ears, making the blood seem louder than ever.
The silhouette steps closer to Ayin. It seems to stare directly at his eyes, looking deep into them. Then it leans down, and he can feel its breath hitting the side of his face.
And then it sniffs him.
Ayin stiffens. He can only hold his breath for a few seconds but when the monster pulls away, he lets out a deep exhale. For some reason, this interaction made him feel not only afraid but also... Somewhat excited.
The mood shifts instantly the moment he saw a claw slowly move to flicker on the lights of the kitchen.
What the ever-loving fuck is this?
In the cramped space of the now ruined kitchen, an entity, large and taller than he is simply looks at him. Eight eyes, eight legs, grey fuzzy fur to cover it entirely. It was like the top part was more humanoid (although, still not that much) with a spider-like bottom. Its spidery legs had black stripes on them.
He realizes now, that this is a jumping spider. The spider he had in the container was a jumping spider.
Fuck.
The creature stares down at him calmly, before moving around him.
It takes a few steps around Ayin, observing him for any signs of movement. Its teeth look sharp. This isn't real, right? Monsters aren't real. This can't be...
Ayin grips the frying pan tighter. He's already trembling and he hasn't even moved. The only movement his muscles are doing is clenching and unclenching his hands.
Finally, the leaping spider comes closer to him and grabs onto the sides of the pan. Hiding its face in the pan... Only slightly peeking at him...
Was... Was it scared of him?
So he lets the spider have the pan, and starts backing out of the kitchen. The spider follows him with its green eyes, still shyly holding onto the pan. Ayin continues backing up until he finds himself against the wall opposite the kitchen. All he's left now was to stare at this thing.
And it stares back. Its many eyes blink in unison.
He can feel it studying him. Can feel the eyes examining every bit of skin, every muscle. He can almost feel it breathing. Its breathing was loud and ragged.
It's scared. But he's also scared and he has far fewer eyes and hardly any sharp teeth than this thing does.
And it's not attacking him.
So he decides to take a risk and carefully get his pan back. The spider almost tries to lean away from his hand, but he gets a few fingers on the pan.
...
He softly ruffles the fur on the spider's head. It blinks at him as he pats its head a couple of times. Its eyes start to widen. The pan gets lowered, and it looks at Ayin with surprise.
He slowly stands up straight and extends one arm, gesturing for the spider. The pan is put down.
Before he knows it, he finds himself picked off the ground. He's a little too short compared to it but thankfully it doesn't hurt to be picked up by it. He feels relief.
The spider starts shaking Ayin slightly before it gently lays him down on the countertop. He sighs softly, feeling himself relax a little bit. He's still very tense, but he feels safe.
That's something new to him. He never had this kind of fear or anxiety. This is all new for him. It's scary. But it's better than being dead.
The spider creature lays its head on his lap, so he awkwardly continues to pet the creature's hair in an attempt to soothe it. The spider's eyes are closed and its breathing is soft and slow. It looks relaxed. Ayin is happy that this creature didn't attack him. But now he's in another predicament. How is he going to get to work at this rate?
He might need to text Carmen for help.