Arachnophobia [Roommates!]

[Fifi Hart]

Generally, Fifi kept to her room. Sure she was a social butterfly most of the time, but by the time she got done socializing long enough to actually get to her room, she was pretty tired and pretty tired of people. This time around, however, Fifi had chosen to do her relaxing in the common area. She was minding her own business, watching TV and curled with a blanket pulled to her chin when it happened.

And it was terrible.

She screamed at the top of her lungs for bloody murder. After all, her life was in peril!

She threw her slipper, but it did nothing to deter to intruder. Clearly Orb weaver spiders are impervious to slipper attacks.

“DIE YOU SICK FUCKER!” Fifi shouted, pulling herself into a rather tiny ball for someone so tall on the corner of the couch. With her blanket pulled up over her nose so that only her terrified blue eyes peeked over the hem, she sought out the spiders with an intense glare.

[Sage Ersilia]

Sage had been peacefully reading a book in his room when he heard the scream. It had been enough to nearly give him a heart attack, and he leapt off the bed and ran to assist his new roommate. Fifi had been nice to him since he got there, and the shriek of terror sent him bursting through the door to her rescue.

“Fifi! What’s wrong?!”

He looked around frantically, frowning in concern at the shivering girl who was curled up on the sofa. What had frightened her so badly to leave her in such a state? Sage assumed it must have been something fearsome, but his emerald eyes eventually found the source, and he snickered a bit.

“Fifi…it’s just a little spider…it can’t hurt you…”

Sage grabbed an unused piece of paper and slid it carefully underneath the arachnid.

“I’m gonna release it outside, okay? It’s probably more scared of us than you are of it…”

He smiled at her reassuringly, his body emitting a faint glow.

[Howell Chilton]

Oh, the caress of the sheets. The welcoming hug of the pillow against his head. The darkness shutting his eyes, allowing him to drift off into a much-needed slumber. The previous night had been spent in the dreams of another, and so this one would be spent sleeping, and nothing else. The dizzy, twirling sensation just before the plunge into sleep overcame him. The only thing that could possibly interrupt this was the horrified shriek of a girl scared witless.

Cue horrified shriek of a girl scared witless.

His eyes - glazed over with a faint red tint - shot open. And poor Fifi's screams of death wishes would be met with his own distressed screams.

"THE NAZI MOTHS!!!"

That was the only logical conclusion here. The time had finally arrived, and the Nazi moths he'd had such an extensive conversation about with Sage were here to take over the school! Starting with their dorm! Clad in his moon and stars pajamas, Howell stumbled into the room, ready to defend his roommates from the German winged terrors. But there were no German winged terrors. Just Sage, Fifi, and... a spider?

A SPIDER!

"A SPIDER!"

Yes we're all quite sure that it was indeed a spider, thank you. Anyway, Howell practically bull-rushed Sage, gripping the paper the eight-legged creature sat upon (that is, if spiders could sit, but Howell was fairly certain that if they had butts, they could sit). Despite the obvious soreness in his eyes and the moon circles decorating below, he stared at it with wonder.

"Oh, can we keep it? Please, please, please?" His begging was turned towards the huddled Fifi, who he had subconsciously decided was the unofficial leader of their dorm. The fact that she was currently trying to get as far away from it as humanly possible did not quite click yet. "I can raise it, and feed it moths, and we can all pitch in to give it a name. Maybe.. Erchiliothart!!" A combination of all their last names? Brilliant.

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi huffed and sank further down into the couch, her toes wiggling on her one bare foot (the other still cloaked in a baby blue slipper). “What-the-fuck-ever!” She shot back to Sage when he tried to convince her that there was nothing to be scared of. “It’s a spider they bite. And some of them are poisonous.” She glowered sullenly at Sage, wrinkling her nose.

“Besides. They creep the shit out of me.” She grunted. She waved her hand just as Howell burst into the room. Startled, she dropped her blanket, revealing her oversized great sweater hanging off her thin frame.

She could only gape at her slightly strange roommate. She pointed emphatically it him when he was finally done blabbering. “What the hell is wrong with you, Howell?!” She accused, her voice shrill with frustration. “I’ll buy us a damn house plant if you want a pet. But we are not keeping a domesticated spider in our room!”

Fifi flopped back onto the couch and pinched the bridge of her nose. “What kind of name is Erchiliothart anyway? The name can’t be bigger than the pet, duh.”

[Sage Ersilia]

In Sage’s mind, Howell always had something interesting to say when opportunities came. In this case, he had run into the room, screaming about the Nazi moths they had imagined before when they had their fun little fort. The boy smiled and laughed a bit, willingly allowing Howell to take the spider from his grasp.

“Careful, Howell…you might startle it”

The optimistic dreamwalker then asked if the spider could be kept as a pet, and Sage bit his lip, glancing over at Fifi, who clearly wanted nothing to do with it.

“Fifi seems afraid…I don’t know if we can. It might be better outside with the other spiders”

Sage thought it was sweet that Howell wanted to care for the spider that wandered into an unsafe place, but it was still a spider that probably had children to feed and a web to maintain…maybe. It wasn’t like he knew or anything. The name, however, was extravagant and incredibly unique and Sage gave a laugh of amusement. Fifi did not seem to feel the same, and she made her opinion very clear to the two of them.

“A plant sounds nice, Howell. I don’t think we’re allowed to have pets in the dorms. But we could buy a plant from that store in town and take care of it…?”

It was a suggestion he wasn’t sure the blond would take, but Sage wanted to be a mediator and negotiate things between his roommates.

“Also, we could release the spider somewhere we know and we can check on it from time to time? You know…to keep it safe from the Nazi moth army…?”

He thought maybe the last bit would sell it for Howell, but he was not exactly one who reacted as expected all of the time.

[Howell Chilton]

Fifi's tyrade earned a pout from the dreamwalker. Not at her first question. He'd heard that one way too many times to even bother with now. It was her refusal that was making his bottom lip puff out. It figured she would be the nay-sayer to his amazing plan. But her last point did strike true. What would happen if a pet's name was bigger than the pet itself? Would it get smashed under the weight? Or maybe it would go mad trying to pronounce a word much bigger than itself. A noticeable paleness swept over his features as he explored all the possibilities. The paper was being slowly turned back and forth, making the spider just a bit antsy in its place.

"But can't you imagine how awesome it would be? We could tell it to build webs to celebrate Halloween, or make a decorative addition to a hat!"

And, of course, none of his pleas or reasonings were doing anything to sway the girl. What's more, now Sage was siding with her. The more he talked, though, the more Howell seemed to finally concede to their side on the matter. By the time Sage was finished making his compromise, Howell was nodding in agreement - albeit solemly, and handing him back the paper and spider.

"Okay, but only if we really get to buy a plant - one that's big enough to fit to its name. Oh, how about a Chlorophytum comosum?" Completely unaware of the implications behind that, the dreamer sprung onto the couch, landing with his legs crossed. "I dunno, what do you guys think? And if we can't name it Erchiliothart, we gotta give it something extravagant. Like.. Elhartonilia, or Charteriot, or Betty."

[Fifi Hart]

Fiona rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help a smile at the two blond boys. Sage was really too sweet for his own good, and always had been. Howell was sweet too just…a little bit off. Which was really okay sometimes. Either way, she liked having them around. They were at least entertaining.

Scoffing at Howell’s suggestion that they could train a fucking spider, Fifi pouted intensely. “Webs huh? And what if it’s a rebellious child and bites our toes while were sleeping like a big ol’ ass hole? What then?” She wrinkled her nose. “A plant would never betray us that way.”

When Howell finally gave in, Fifi clapped her hands together and turned her eyes towards the heavens. “THANK you god. Sage, get that fucking thing out of here.” She ordered, rubbing her hands together and Mturning to Howell on the couch. “I swear to you I will take you to Wal-art tomorrow and you can buy the biggest, most extravagant Chlorophytus com-whatever you want. And we can name it…I dunno, Penelope or whatever you want.”

Joking, Fifi tacked on. “We’ll call him Penny when he’s feeling extremely girly.” Leaning her chin on her fist and looking to Sage like a cat with the canary, Fifi added “What do you think, Sage? You’re the one with the plant name.”

[Sage Ersilia]

Sage smiled at Howell’s ideas. There weren’t many people who looked at a spider as a future opportunity for Halloween décor or hat accessories. It was silly to think that anyone could train a spider to do all the things the boy planned, but Sage wanted to support the optimistic and imaginative mind that made Howell who he was.

However, he did eventually agree to getting a plant, his thoughts still on an extravagant and less common name. Fifi seemed more than willing to comply with the crazy demands so long as the spider was taken out of commission. Sage smiled a bit in accomplishment, glad to have made everyone happy. He knew it was impossible for everyone to be happy all the time, but at least he could do this much. Fifi asked him to let the spider go, and the blond moved to the window with the spider in hand before gently releasing it outside the window.

“There. Now the spider is back where it belongs”

Emerald eyes turned to the roommates, and Sage pondered on a name. Just because he had a plant name didn’t necessarily mean he knew what to name one…well, he had never once thought of naming a plant in the first place.

“Um…maybe… Faun? It’s the name of a forest god in Roman Mythology”

The boy sat down on the couch beside Fifi, glancing between the two for opinions.

[Howell Chilton]

"Hm.." Spiders were hard to settle in, regardless of how absolutely adorable they were. And if it was so bold to bite Fifi... Well, he would rather not have thought about it. But, as the ever-insightful one pointed out, a plant wouldn't be crawling around to bite their feet. "Unless it's Audrey II..." he thought aloud. "Let's NOT name it Audrey II, then." There, that would resolve that issue.

On Fifi's order, Sage was taking the spider outside the window. Howell waved it off, looking particularly somber as the window was shut on it. The poor thing was probably going to freeze out there, or starve to death. It would start snowing soon, and no other bugs were out and about at this time of year. They were practically sending it to its dea-

"“I swear to you I will take you to Wal-art tomorrow and you can buy the biggest, most extravagant Chlorophytus com-whatever you want..."

The next thing Fifi would know, there was a blonde hugging tightly around her waist. "Really?! Oh thank you thank you thank you!" It was a rarity for Howell to be taken to any store, let alone having anything bought for him. Such was the plight of being poor. To be honest, he wasn't really expecting them to actually get a plant, assuming it was only mentioned to shut him up. But if they were actually going to get one...

Finding his roommate's body a comfortable enough pillow, Howell remained in his place lying against her side. Not to say she was fat or anything! The boy was simply too tired (believe it or not) to haul himself up after that exertion. Said pillow's subtle remark towards the other blonde was missed, so instead he was staring up towards Sage, looking just as curious about what his decision was.

"Faun," he echoed as he sat up long enough for Sage to take his seat... only to flop right back down, lying on both of their (not-fat) laps. ".. I like it! Do you like it? I like it." Hopefully they could all agree on that name. It was a clever little name, with a story behind it even! And that, of course, made it the best one.

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi didn’t feel like waving her literary snobbery around to point out that Faun was the name of a group of forests spirit deities and not necessarily a god for fear that her roommates would discover that she wasn’t as much of a slacker as she let on. Instead she raised interested eyebrows at Sage’s suggestion, resting her hand on her chin in thought. Just as she opened her mouth to reply to Sage, Howell jumped in from her other side.

She grinned triumphantly when Howell half-tackled, half-hugged her. When he didn’t get back up, she draped her arm over his side and laid her head affectionately on Sage’s shoulder. While she didn’t assume that friendly cuddling among roommates was going to happen after a spider invasion, she couldn’t say that it was all that bad. The two blonde boys were sweet…it was sort of like having puppies.

One really nice quiet puppy and one really spastic insane puppy that tried to eat it’s own shadow and sometimes ran into walls.

“It’s settled then. We’ll take the bus and have an adventure out of it, eh?” Fiona suggested, wrinkling her nose at the idea of taking the bus out in the cold. “Unless anyone knows anyone with a car. Anyone besides me.”

There was no way she was going to ask Zac to take her to Wal-Mart to buy a plant for Howell. She would never hear the end of it.

[Sage Ersilia]

Sage smiled at Howell’s joy upon Fifi’s promise to take him to buy the plant he wanted. It was nice that all the roommates could get along, since it was not always easy for people to share a space and not argue about things. They all seemed to be doing swimmingly though, and Sage was looking forward to going with them to pick out their new “family member.”

“I’ll be sure to give it plenty of light. I think we’ll be able to take care of it very well”

Howell moved onto the couch to snuggle the girl before lying over their laps, blushing ever so slightly, and Sage laughed at the affection he showed. He began to glow even more brightly, warming the two and his face turned even redder as Fifi’s head rested on his shoulder.

“I-I’m glad you like the name. I just…I thought it was interesting”

Sage enjoyed the thought of a fun adventure to pick out a plant, but the transportation issue was a bit of a problem.

“I don’t have a car, but…hmm…”

The boy pondered on any ideas. They would get there no matter what, but it was all about convenience at this point.

[Howell Chilton]

Everyone was already making plans for their new addition to the room, leaving Howell in that weird, Twilight Zone episode-worthy state between excited and half-asleep. Right now, he was clinging towards the former. The news of getting a pet plant was still... well, new! It was quite the struggle though, what with Fifi's arm resting on him and Sage's light warming up his back. A yawn was successfully fought off before they got on the subject of actually getting to the store.

"I don't have a car either, no... But the bus is just as good!"

It was better for everyone that the dreamwalker didn't have a vehicle. To think that a boy with narcolepsy would be behind the wheel was a terrifying thought by itself. At least when he was restricted to a bus, abruptly falling to sleep would only result in him missing a stop. And now that these two would be with him, even that was a worry he could cast aside.

"We could always go find someone who could teleport us there, or even someone who can fly. It'd probably help save money, and the environment, if everyone had a teleporter with them. Or a store."

The boy began twirling a finger around in his hair - a habit he'd developed in the pursuit of keeping himself awake. His mother once theorized that it was for this reason that his hair had found its curls. "We should invite Gia along, too! Unless you wanna surprise her with it?"

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi grinned impishly and reached up to pinch Sage’s cheek. “Too cuddly for ya, dayglow?” She cooed, teasing him for being so shy. She had to squint against his radiating light. “Geeze, tone it down sweetheart.” Fifi sighed heavily when both boys admitted they didn’t have a car. That was annoying. She was definitely going to have to ask Zac now, and she hated asking him for anything.

Scoffing at Howell, Fifi rolled her eyes. “Like I’d trust anyone still in training to fly me to the store…and I especially wouldn’t trust them to teleport me. What if they fucked it up?” Fifi made a face. “Yikes. That would suck.”

Fiona wiggled out from between the two boys and planted her hands on her hips. “I’ll let Gia know and get back to you guys soon about the car. I have a friend who will loan me one if I whine enough.” She ruffled both of her roommates hair before she flounced over to her room to get dressed. “And I’ll let Gia know too!” She called over her shoulder.

[Feeling some closure on this one, peeps. What do you think?]