obligatory fruity content

Y/N made another chain out of the geo that it planned to use to pay for the next trial. It hummed all throughout the weaving process, eventually holding it up so Tiso could see it. Tiso’s corpse was almost dust. He could tell it was only held together by webbing, but Y/N still faced it whenever it wanted to show him something.

“Is this enough?”

Tap tap. I can’t quite remember.

“Well, I don't want to weave all the geo into it… because I had a fun idea!!” Y/N set the chain aside. It drew three inscribed circles. “If I cover half of the geo we have with blood, we can play Marbles because we’d have two sets!”

Marbles? What are you, a larva?

Tiso watched Y/N prepare the materials for this game it wanted to play.

“I figured it could help you with finer movements. So far you’ve just been using your full strength on everything. And you’ve been getting stronger! Your handwriting is getting messier because of that…”

Rude.

Tiso examined his most recent scribbles, then grimaced.

Okay, yeesh, I guess you’re right.

“So you have to gently flick the geo into the circle to get to the center! You’re the unpainted ones.”

I know how to play Marbles. This isn't even Marbles, this is Bullseye with too few circles. But I can’t get mad at you for not knowing if you’ve never played before, I guess.

Y/N laid on its stomach with its painted geo neatly lined up next to it. Tiso’s was in a pile. He had to think strategically. The geo wasn't uniformly round, and they weren't all the same size. Rounder and smaller geo would be easier to move with less force, but it meant that Y/N could more easily knock them out of the center circle. Larger and more irregularly shaped geo might not move as expected, though it would be very good at knocking Y/N’s geo out of the ring. Y/N leisurely kicked its feet as Tiso picked through his pile. Lining them up like Y/N would be more efficient, but he didn't want it to be able to analyze his options the same way he could. It would be best to start strong. The strongest play Tiso could make was to get a heavy bit of Geo right in the center while he was currently unopposed. He flicked his chosen warrior. It went flying across the den and into the webbing in the wall behind Y/N.

Damn.

“My turn!” Y/N flicked one of its blood-covered geo. It slid into the second circle, but not the center. Tiso flicked his next fossilized soldier directly at Y/N’s, hoping that hitting it would keep his ‘marble’ from going out of bounds again. It somewhat worked, but it bounced off with enough force to land Tiso’s geo in the outer circle all the way across from Y/N’s, which was similarly pushed into the largest ring. The game continued. Tiso was getting increasingly frustrated with his inability to fine-tune how much force he used. He had focused so much on lifting larger, heavier objects and throwing them as hard as he could that he couldn't figure out for the life of him how to be gentle. His marbles were bouncing all over the place. The more he struggled, the more frustrated he was, and the more he lost the ability to control his marble trajectory. Y/N had more points by the end purely from having more marbles in the circles at all. “Do you want to try again?”

No!!! …Okay maybe. I’m gonna kick your ass eventually. Tap tap tap.

Y/N gathered up all the geo again, which impressed Tiso considering the fact they had gone everywhere. Flick. Flick. Flick.

“How come you always win, Nurse Mira?” Tiso looked up at the familiar voice. One of his brood sisters was sitting next to him, kicking her legs. There were her marbles, all small little rocks. Nurse Mira’s stones were blood green.

“Refining your strength is an essential part of being a soldier, as well as your accuracy.” Nurse Mira was a strong, stocky ant, but her fingers were delicate. “If you simply use your full strength at all times, you will quickly tire. You must gauge your opponent carefully.”

“But you’re not a soldier, Nurse Mira,” Tiso responded. “You're just a nurse.”

“Tsk. I had to learn the same skill. It wouldn't do for me to crush a fragile child now, would it?” Tiso shuddered at the thought as his brood sister laughed.

Crush…

A shadow…

“Tiso?”

Tiso snapped to attention. Y/N was staring expectantly at Tiso’s pile of geo.

“Are you tired? Do you want to stop playing?”

Tap. Flick.

The geo Tiso flicked still went full force. He growled in frustration. Y/N calmly flicked another marble. It rolled all the way across the circles and out the other side.

“Oops.” It giggled. Tiso relaxed slightly. He could tell Y/N had only done that to make him feel better, but it was a sentiment he appreciated. Y/N was the only person besides Tiso’s dead friend that would make such a gesture for him. Still, it wasn't nearly as much force as Tiso was using. He laid on his stomach like Y/N, resting the side of his head against the ground in a way that lined up his eye with his last remaining geo. There was no risk to messing up. He knew that. Y/N would just play again and again and again until he got bored and told it to stop. He still found himself becoming tense. That was no good. If he was riled up he’d lose control of his strength again. Who knew a game played by nymphs would be so rage inducing?

Flick.

Tiso’s geo bounced off one of Y/N’s and rolled out of the circle. He punched the floor. Damn it!! On the plus side, Y/N’s also rolled away. Y/N flicked its last geo and landed on the outer edge of the second circle.

“Again?”

Again.

Again. Again. Tiso felt he was getting further and further from his goal every time. His frustration was mounting. Even looking at Y/N’s gentle and patient smile wasn't enough to keep him from losing his marbles, pun entirely intended. Again. Again. Again.

“Are you okay? Your aim is getting worse…”

Tap.

“Should we stop?”

Tap.

“If you're upset, it won't do you any good. It’s meant to be fun. And for practice. If you can't focus because you’re so mad, it’s best to take a break. I’m not going anywhere.” Tiso grumbled to himself as Y/N picked up all the geo again. It was right, of course, but Tiso was still annoyed at his own incompetence. If he were alive, he would've destroyed Y/N. He was good at Bullseye! He was the best of his sisters! He was back at square one. He was like a feeble little worm with no discernment. Y/N idly held up the chain of geo it had made for the arena. “Maybe I should add more…”

Tap tap.

“Look. If I hold it up right…” Y/N tilted the chain so the light reflected off of it. “Is that what dew looks like on a web? It’s so pretty…”

Hah. I guess. I’d call you greedy, but I don't think that’s it. Greedy people hoard geo because it has value. They feel powerful when they have an excess of it. If you started hoarding it, you wouldn't care about the value of it at all. You’d just want it because it sparkles. Geo is just rocks to you…

“Do you really think we could see dewdrops on the mountain?”

Tap tap tap. I'm certain of it.

“Hmm…” Y/N set the chain aside. “Do you think…?”

…Generally, yes, I do think. I doubt that's what you mean though.

“Do you think I’m ready to go up there?” Tiso thought about that for a bit. Y/N’s webs weren’t orb shaped by any means, but it was getting closer. Besides, even if it could only set up the structural support strands of the web, it would have the same effect.

Tap tap…. tap.

“I hope you’re right! I think I could maybe do it… I’d have more room up there, right?”

Tap tap tap.

“I think it’ll be a bit of a trek, though. A really big climb. Maybe we should stock up?”

I’ll be honest, the distance from here to the top of the mountain is probably the same distance from here to that garden you like, so I don't really care.

It was pretty obvious that his input didn't matter, so Tiso didn't respond. Y/N was already packing up what it needed to get to the garden.

Tiso watched Y/N dig around in the dirt for root vegetables. He sat on the ground nearby, head in one hand as he idly observed what Y/N was pulling out of the ground. It dusted the roots off with its claws, pulling off a few fibrous bits before holding up the taproot to examine it. When it was satisfied, it chucked the vegetable in the basket. When it wasn't, it reburied the root. It was a boring process, but Tiso focused as hard as he could on it to avoid daydreaming. He didn't want to see his past anymore. He was sick of it. Y/N eventually stood up, adjusting its hood carefully as it did.

“Are you sure nobody can see me…?”

Tap tap. I don't think there's anyone around to see you, anyway.

“Ohhh…” It hid its face in its claws. “I can’t stop thinking about it… me and my weird eyes… oughhh….”

At least your head isn't bean-shaped.

Tiso tugged on the edges of his spectral hood with a sigh. He understood exactly what Y/N was going through, but he struggled to have sympathy for it. He lightly touched Y/N’s elbow. It pulled its face out of its hands. He picked up a small pebble and threw it. After tracking the arc with its eyes, Y/N stood up and followed it. Tiso got up and drifted after it. It walked aimlessly for a bit, gazing up at the massive flowering plants and the canopy of leaves.

“Oh, Tiso!! Look up there!” Y/N pointed at a flowering bush. There were a few larger berries on it. “I haven't seen those in a while! They don't fruit very often… they're very sweet, though!” Tiso examined the fruit. They were red with tiny seeds dotting the outside. Y/N started looking around for a way to climb the bush. “Oh… the base is being choked by thorns… that's no good.”

What, you can't crawl past the thorns? Hm.

Tiso looked back and forth between the thorns and Y/N. It started walking a different direction in search of something else to scavenge. Tiso looked up at one of the berries. He wouldn't be hindered by those thorns. Hell, he didn't even really need to climb. Then again, he didn't have a lot of experience floating more than a few inches off the ground. What little “flying” he had done had Y/N’s movement across a webbed chasm as a guide. He squinted at the berry. Maybe if he focused hard enough, he could drift up to it? It was another skill Tiso would have to learn. He shook his head. No! It was a skill he had! He could do it right now! Tiso stared as hard as he could, willing himself towards it. Part of him was tempted to do a little hop, but he resisted that urge. That would simply cement the idea that he was tethered to the ground. He wasn't. He wasn't, and he was gonna prove it! He reached one hand up. If he tried hard enough, he could touch it. The berry was like a distant planet, one that Tiso was determined to land on.

He jostled it slightly. There it was, at the tips of his fingers.

Tiso looked down. The ground was far away. He gasped sharply in panic, scrambling to grab onto and cling to the berry. It shook wildly, and then the stem snapped. It fell to the ground, and Tiso screamed silently with his eyes squeezed shut as he fell with it. Except he didn't. When he opened his eyes, he was still in the air. He uncurled his body. Y/N had jogged back over to see what the source of the sound was.

“Woah! Did you… get this down for me? It looks too fresh to have fallen on its own…” It ran its claws against the surface of the fruit. It was quite a bit larger than either Y/N or Tiso.

Tap tap tap. You know, it never occurred to me how weird it is that you eat fruits and vegetables. I was told spiders are strictly carnivores.

“Tisoooo! You’re the best!! Thank you so much!” Tiso thought idly about the stories about plants he had heard as he watched Y/N bite into the berry. These were called… strawberries, he believed. This wasn't a natural specimen, though. It was too big, too smooth, too sweet-smelling. Y/N seemed to enjoy it, though, so he stopped thinking about it. It made sense for Y/N to immediately chow down. Tiso recalled that soft fruits like this spoiled quickly. He wasn't meant to be a gatherer, though, so he could only vaguely remember peripheral information from strawberries he had eaten and conversations his sisters had had. With how enthusiastically Y/N ate it, it was probably the most delicious fruit in the world.

He still preferred tomatoes.