Almost there. Just one more dark hallway, and Napstablook would have made out of Hotland and into New Home. Blooky paused in front of the entrance. The nearby bake-sale stand was empty-no supplies and no staff. They couldn't spot a single spider around. Maybe the spiders were all out? Maybe, Blooky could pass through without bothering anyone. Gulping, Blooky slowly glided forward into the hall. Shadows enveloped their ethereal form and gave them hope that, even if someone was around, they wouldn't notice them. The hope was short-lived, however, as a faint noise came trickling down from above, so quiet at first that they thought for a moment that it might have had been their imagination.

"Ahuhuhu..."

Oh no. She was here, after all. Blooky wondered if they should have left, but would that be rude? If they had turned around immediately after hearing her voice, that would look mean. Not sure what to do, Blooky continued to float forward.

"What have we here?" Her voice slinked down from the webs above them once more. "Has a ghost come to play? Ahuhuhu..."

Oh no. Did she want Blooky to stay around? Mettaton was expecting them in New Home, and Blooky didn't want to be late. They would have to disappoint someone. Even if they played a game, they would probably be terrible and disappoint at that, as well. Oh no.

"Or maybe they've come to make a donation?" Her voice was closer now, bubbling through the shadows. "How very generous. Ahuhuhu..."

Oh no. Napstablook's eyes began to well up. They didn't bring any money. Mettaton insisted that Blooky didn't bring any, so that the spiders couldn't bully them. But, now that they didn't have any, they were going to upset them. Oh no. They longed to be back in Waterfall, but they continued forward. The webs underneath them were getting thicker. They looked pretty difficult to move through. Maybe Blooky should slow down? They didn't want the webs to look bad.

"Or maybe," her voice quivered for a moment, something Napstablook thought was surely caused by them doing something wrong. They assumed they were moving too fast, and moved slower. "Maybe they're here for something else... Ahuhu..."

Oh no. What else could she want? The weight of expectation was crushing them. The webs underneath them looked exceptionally thick. Napstablook didn't think that anyone corporeal could move through that much web, so they stopped out of politeness.

"Maybe," her voice came from directly above Napstablook. They could hear the webbing above them being pulled taught as a giant muffin deftly descended from the ceiling onto a stage made of webbing. Upon the muffin rode a dainty, six-armed figure sipping a cup of tea. Muffet placed her teacup on its saucer and continued with a devillish grin, "Maybe they've just come to see little, old me. Ahuhuhu!"

Napstablook was paralyzed. They remained still in the air, staring forward with wet eyes. Oh no, what should they do? Muffet strode off of the back of her giant muffin pet with elegant, practiced steps. She took another sip of tea before placing the cup upon its saucer and holding the china to her side, next to a long piece of web. A small horde of spiders came from the darkness, and lifted the teacup to the shadows above. "Well," Muffet continued forward, coming to a stop just above Napstablook, "What brings such a fetching ghost to my web?"

Struck by fear and panic, Blooky did the only thing they could think of: "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Muffet covered her mouth with one of her hands and giggled before breaking out into laughter. She made a visible effort to stifle her laughter before leaning forward from the edge of the stage and closer to Napstablook. "Come to sleep standing upright with your eyes open?" There was a visible flush on her cheeks and a large smirk on her lips.

Guilt washed over Napstablook. "oh no... your face is red... i made you mad already..." Muffet looked startled by their words for a moment, but regained her composure. "i'm sorry..."

"Ahuhuhu," She giggled again, drawing back slightly. "I'm not mad, dearie. Though, it would certainly make me happy if you've brought a donation for the spiders."
"oh no..." Tears began to flow from Napstablook's eyes. "i didn't bring any money..." Large drops of ectoplasm began to drip onto the webs below them. "i'm sorry..."

Upon seeing tears on their face, the flush on Muffet's cheeks deepened. Her grin widened into a bright smile as she leaned forward again, her face about a foot away from Napstablook's. "Oh no, dearie. Don't worry, I'm sure there's something you can do to make me happy."

"oh no... i have to go see mettaton... i don't have time to play a game either..." The tears became larger in volume.

"In a hurry, are we?" She giggled again, continuing to move forward ever so slightly. A small platoon of spiders had gathered under her, holding her up as she continued to lean farther off of the stage. Her face was just inches away now. "I'm sure there's something quick you could do... Ahuhuhu..."

Napstablook stole a glance upwards at Muffet's mischevious, smiling face for a moment before returning their gaze to the ground. Their tears kept falling, but each drop began to change into the shape of a Gold coin. Coin after coin fell from their eyes, and it wasn't long before a large pile of ectoplasmic counterfeit currency lay on the ground between them.

Muffet began to giggle again, before breaking out into laughter much louder than she had been previously. She couldn't stop herself from laughing. She began to wipe tears from her eyes, two eyes at a time. She snapped her fingers, and a league of spiders erupted from the ground and carried the coins away. "I suppose this will have to do. Until next time, my fetching ghost." The muffin lifted her onto its back and began climbing into the shadows above, Muffet's laughter echoing through the hall. Napstablook took this as permission to leave, and floated out towards New Home.

After Napstablook's visit, Mettaton had insisted on returning them home himself via a different route to avoid the spiders. "Blooky," he sighed as the two entered Napstablook's home, "I can't believe you let her pick on you again."

"i know... i'm sorry..." Napstablook hung their upper body. They were always such a trouble to everyone.

"Darling, please, I just wish you'd-" Something in the corner of the house caught Mettaton's eye and stopped the words in his voice modulator. There was an unusual spider web near the ceiling. While most webs had a radial pattern, this web was just heart shapes. Heart after heart after heart all flawlessly woven above him, with a small ad for a spider bake sale in the middle. Napstablook had probably spent so much time looking at the ground that they never noticed it before.

"Darling," Mettaton turned his head back towards Napstablook. "Would you smooch a spider?"