Of Men and Spiders

The first thing Scott became aware of was waking up in unfamiliar surroundings. The second thing was that he was not alone, and the arm draped over him was most definitely of the feminine variety. The third thing was that he was missing some clothes.

Thinking back, his memories of the night before were more than a little hazy. He remembered trying Cleo's truly awful creation. He also vaguely remembered ranting and cursing in his father's name but after that... Well, his current headache certainly wasn't helping clarify anything.

Scott tried to gently extricate himself from his current situation while seriously reconsidering several life choices, only to freeze when his unintended companion groaned awake and then spoke in a still half-asleep voice from her position behind him. "Where you off to lover boy?"

Scott turned around and saw Cleo behind him, holding up a bunch of blankets to cover herself. He was unsure of what to say but started speaking anyway. "Ah, yeah... I'm not sure what happened, but..."

Cleo's eyes were wide. "Wait, don't tell me you didn't mean what you said about being in love last night? But what about the future you promised me? What about the babies? What about my virginity?!?"

Scott started panicking. "I didn't...I mean...we didn't...I don't...I..."

Cleo snorted and then laughed, dropping the blankets to reveal herself fully clothed. "Relax, lover boy, nothing happened. Your virtue is still intact."

Scott looked down at his shirtless body. "Then why am I naked?"

Cleo grabbed a bunch of the blankets and pulled them off him, revealing his pants still in place as she explained. "You're not. You just threw up all over your shirt last night, and I didn't want that mess in my bed." Then she gave him an appraising glance as her gaze drifted toward his waist and below. "Though if you wanted to put on a show for me, I wouldn't complain..."

Scott rolled his eyes to hide how flustered he was feeling. "Yeah, that's a no from me. Why am I even here? Why not send me off to my own bed?"

Cleo shrugged. "Well, you were in no condition to go anywhere on your own, and I wasn't sure if your pet spider would take kindly to me hauling your semi-conscious body through the ship. On the other hand, I figured you might resent me if I dumped you in my tub and left you, and I find it's best not to get on a captor's bad side, so this was the best alternative I could think of."

Grinning, Cleo added, "Besides, I figured it would be funny watching you piece everything together in the morning." She winked. "I wasn't wrong."

Scott shook his head and immediately regretted it. "Yeah, sure, thanks...I guess. Now, where's my shirt?"

Cleo jerked her thumb toward her bathroom. "In the tub that I considered dumping you in."

Scott walked into the bathroom and fished his shirt out of the bathtub. He briefly considered putting it back on, only to realize Cleo hadn't been joking about the mess he'd made. Instead, he bunched it up into a ball to carry back to his room and dump it in the laundry, doing his best to touch as little of the fragrant blend of stomach acid and alcohol that stained the shirt as he could manage.

As he turned to leave the bathroom, Scott was met by Cleo again. This time, she held out a cup filled with something Scott didn't want to contemplate. "Before you go, drink this."

Scott held up a hand to decline. "Listen, last night was a mistake. I don't think we'll be drinking partners again anytime soon..."

Cleo laughed again. "It's water genius. It'll help you deal with that headache that's obviously bothering you. I really did pop your alcohol cherry, didn't I?"

In a move that was becoming a habit when dealing with another headache that'd been tormenting him as of late, Scott rolled his eyes but still accepted the offered cup. He sniffed it, then carefully tasted a sip before drinking it down.

While he drank, the pirate girl shook her head. "It's not drugged! If I wanted to do that, I would have done it last night while you were wasted! I'm being a good girl, I swear!" She winked at him with that last line, making Scott choke a little on the water.

Finally, Scott handed her back the empty cup. "Thanks for the water and for not taking advantage of the situation last night, one way or another... But seriously, I should go... This ship isn't going to run itself..."

Cleo let him walk past, but just as he reached the door, she spoke up one last time. "No problem, lover boy... But on a serious note, from what you told me last night, your dad was a right bastard. If you ever wanna talk about it, sober this time, you know where I am. I know a thing or two about bastards."

That left Scott wondering just what he'd told her last night. Looking over, it seemed like Charlotte was still present in her corner, making him worried about what kind of a show he'd put on, though at least she could probably provide him an accurate retelling of what he'd said.

Trying not to think too hard about whatever new mistakes he'd just made, Scott sighed and left.

-

As Cleo watched Scott go, she let her mischievous smile drop slightly. Not that she hadn't had fun, but she'd held back on drinking and partying as much as she wanted, figuring being mostly sober would work in her favor, and she was right. She'd certainly learned some interesting things from Scott last night, and the good favor she'd earned mixed with a healthy dose of flirting was an additional bonus. One thing she'd learned in her time with pirates is that a little good favor went a long way when asking for forgiveness for a minor indiscretion. It was almost like having a line of credit. So the question was, how best to spend that credit?

One thing she needed was more information. Scott was surprisingly good at keeping his lips sealed, at least when sober, and Alice didn't know enough to give anything away, so Cleo knew very little about her current situation. Maybe she could explore a little. Get a lay of the land, so to speak, and see what opportunities present themselves. There was just one problem with that plan, that damned spider that watched her every move. Cleo did have one idea, although it was a bit of a gamble, but she didn't get where she was by playing it safe.

Cleo waited a couple hours, and as she predicted, the time Scott usually picked her up to go to the rec room came and went. He was probably still recovering and maybe feeling a little shy about how things had turned out. Cleo took a deep breath, preparing to defend herself if things went sour, and approached the door, speaking to herself, willing the stupid spider to buy her vibe. "Well, since Scott probably isn't feeling so well, I'll just go and visit the rec room like I do every day! Yup! Nothing odd about that! I go every day at this time, after all! Just getting the workout Scott promised me, that's all!"

The spider in the corner didn't move other than to turn and observe her movement, like usual. The real question was, what would the one that usually waited outside the door do? It was used to watching her go to the rec room. Maybe it would just let her walk by.

Once the door was open, the larger spider monster was indeed there, but at least it didn't walk toward Cleo like it had every other time she'd opened the door alone. Maybe it was used to her going to the rec room after all?

Willing herself to act naturally, Cleo walked into the hallway, then turned and shut the door. The spider still didn't move other than to keep its eyes on her like the smaller one in her room usually did. This was definitely promising. However, when she turned and started walking down the hallway, she immediately heard the "tap tap tap" sound of the spider walking behind her.

Cleo froze, ready to turn and fight, but the spider froze too. She started walking, and the spider followed, keeping pace but not closing the distance.

Fighting the urge to sigh, Cleo kept walking forward. This thing really was a watchdog, and it wasn't about to let her roam free, but still, this was progress. Maybe if she could get it used to walking around with her on the ship, it would slowly allow her more and more freedom of movement. However, Cleo heard a familiar sound as she walked down the hall toward the rec room. Alice's laughter.

In a moment of impish impulse, Cleo decided "bumping into" Alice while on her way to the rec room would be innocent enough, and her credit would probably earn her forgiveness for such a minor indiscretion while also allowing her to establish a slightly stronger connection with the one person on board who speaking with didn't feel like a game of chess.

Cleo turned to walk down the hallway the sounds were coming from, and several things happened simultaneously. Cleo called out, "Hey Alice! How's it going?" the spider behind her suddenly picked up its pace, and something walked into the hallway that belonged in one of those horror movies about humanity finally finding Alien life. The lower half looked just like any other spider monster on this ship, but the upper half looked like a human girl who turned toward Cleo with a surprised look on her face as it spoke in Alice's voice. "Cleo? Is that you?"

Cleo's mind froze, unsure of what to do. Then she felt something bite her leg, and the world went dark.