"Please don't argue in front of guests," begged Napstablook.

"I. Am. Not. Arguing! I am defending-"

"You're making a scene," hissed Hapsta.

"A scene. A scene! You're calling me dramatic-"

"This kind of happens a lot," said Napstablook to Muffet. "They won't stop…"

Muffet cleared her throat. The two ghosts rose a few feet in shock, and fell silent. They looked like they had forgotten she was there at all.

"Oh, dear," said Hapstablook. "That was very unbecoming of us. We're sorry, Muffet."

"Not me!"

"Tapstablook!"

"You're all forgiven," said Muffet. Napstablook beamed. "Let's start again, shall we? You both seem to know a lot about me, but I hardly know anything about you! Could you tell me a little more about yourselves?"

"Well!" began Hapsta, "I've always loved theatre. Especially musical theatre! And any sort of acting, really. It's what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember."

"Hapsta dreams of being a star," Napstablook put in. "They tell everyone they meet all about it."

"They're a real drama queen!" Tapstablook added.

"True!" giggled Hapsta. "And after I'm famous underground, I'll become the biggest star on the surface!"

"You have a beautiful voice," said Muffet admiringly. "I'm certain you'll do wonderfully… I would love to hear you sing."

"Goodness, darling, thank you! I shall give a special performance, just for you…"

"No, no, no," interrupted Tapstablook. "Hapsta loves to show off! But! We have an agreement! If they want to sing, they go to their own house!"

"Hapsta does sing kind of loud," piped up Napstablook. "They, um, don't have much self-restraint."

"Why, only because everyone deserves to hear me! But I suppose fair is fair. I don't sing in the house when Tappy's around, and Tappy's not allowed to dance on the table anymore."

"Anymore?" asked Muffet.

"Shyren hasn't visited since," said Napstablook sadly. Tapstablook spluttered. Muffet made a mental note to ask about the story later.

"You'll get to hear me sing later, Muffet, dear," said Hapsta. "Then you'll get to be one of my first fans! I'm going to be the Underground's first ghost star. It's not going to be easy, but I want to prove to everyone that you don't need to be corporeal to make it big." They fluttered their eyes.

Napstablook clapped. The effect was underwhelming, as their ghostly appendages made barely any noise, but Hapsta preened anyway.

"You sure love making that speech," Tapstablook groaned. "Moving on, moving on! Let's talk about me, now!"

"Well, Tapstablook," said Muffet, "What would you like to do? Or be?"

"Don't know!"

"Tappy's the most indecisive out of all of us," said Hapsta. "They haven't decided what they want to do."

"I literally just said that!"

Muffet caught Napstablook's worried look. Neither of them wanted this to erupt into another argument.

"So," she said, a little hastily, "how long have you lived in Waterfall for?"

"A really, really long time," said Napstablook. "It's where I met Hapsta and Tapsta."

"Met?" asked Muffet in confusion. "But, I thought you were cousins."

Hapsta, Tapstablook, and Napstablook exchanged a brief look.

"Ghost families don't work like that, Muffet," explained Hapsta. "We choose our relatives. Tappy and I aren't cousins in the sense corporeal monsters think of, but when we met we knew we were family. And after we had been living together for a while, we met Napsta."

"You mean you weren't always cousins?"

"You could say that," replied Hapsta. "But I like to think we always were, and we just needed to find each other."

"I see! Thank you for explaining."

"And that's the Blook story!" announced Tapstablook. "The entire Blook story with nothing missing."

Hapsta made a strangled little sound, and Napstablook looked at the floor.

Muffet looked cautiously between the three. She was intrigued, of course, and it was obvious that there was plenty left unsaid, but manners came first. It was becoming increasingly clear that if the four of them were left in one room for much longer they'd be bouncing off the walls.

"Would anyone like to go for a walk?" she offered. "I would very much like to see more of your home."

"That's a wonderful idea!" said Hapsta. "We must show you around, and introduce you to our neighbours."

"That sounds fun," said Napstablook. "Um, Tapsta? Are you in…?"

Tapstablook snorted. "I'd rather swim in literal garbage." They floated out the front door. "I'm going to hang out in the garbage dump. 'LATER!"

Muffet stared after them.

"I think they like you," said Napstablook.

"Are – are you sure?"

"Tappy has a strange sense of humour, darling," promised Hapsta. "You mustn't let it bother you. You've left quite an impression on them."

"I suppose if you do say so," said Muffet, without much conviction. She didn't yet know what to think of Napstablook's least civil cousin.

She wasn't given time to think about it as she was ushered out the door.

"Come on, Muffet," said Napstablook. "Do you want to see the snails? It's time to feed them… You can help, if you want."

"I'd love to, dearie," smiled Muffet. She thought of Toriel and her fondness for snails. She'd need to tell her all about this.

"One moment!" came Hapsta's voice from inside the house. They twirled through the door, carrying a basket full of fruit slices and vegetables. "Now, this way! The Blook family pride is just through here…"

Muffet followed the ghosts through a short stone archway. Before her lay a fenced in area full of dozens of snails, crawling about and on top of each other, of various sizes and colours. Napstablook started collecting uneaten scraps that had begun to wilt, greeting each snail kindly. Hapsta pressed the basket into Muffet's hands.

"It's very simple, darling," they said. "Just put some food down in front of a snail, and they'll get to it eventually if they want it!" They took some snail food out of the basket, humming. "Hello, my beauties! Did you miss us? Are you hungry?"

Muffet spent a moment watching the cousins work, and looked around. Snails were oozing everywhere, apparently undisturbed by the presence of a stranger. She selected a striking navy blue snail to crouch in front of.

"That's one's Luka!" called Hapstablook, who was busy laying down lettuce at the other end of the field. "Strawberries are their favourite."

Muffet rummaged through the basket, and sure enough, she found a handful of strawberries nestling inside. She carefully placed them in front of the snail, who slowly waved its head and crawled towards them. Or maybe it was staying still. Muffet couldn't really tell. She giggled. Snails were rather cute in their own way.

She turned to another snail, this time a plain grey one. She found some tomato slices in her basket.

"Oh, that's Terry," said Napstablook, appearing next to her. "She doesn't like tomato… I think there's some cucumber for her instead…"

Feeding the snails was a little more complicated than Muffet had expected. Under Hapsta's guidance, and Napstablook's watchful eye, she eventually emptied the basket (and learned all the snail's names in the process).

"All done!" said Hapsta. "We'll be back tomorrow, to see if anything needs changing."

"Yeah," said Napstablook. "Keeping snails is hard work… thanks for helping, Muffet. It's always nice to have some extra help…"

"We could get even more done if Tappy worked more often," said Hapsta.

"Tapsta doesn't care about the farm as much…" Napstablook told Muffet. "They like exploring more."

At once, Tapstablook emerged from behind a rock.

"Hey, hey! HEY! Who's disparaging my character?"

"I thought you were going to the rubbish dump," sulked Hapsta.

"I keep telling you the farm's boring!" declared Tapstablook, ignoring them. "None of you like my ideas! Snail rides! Snail racing! Caged snail fights!"

"That's because your ideas are terrible!" cried Hapsta. "And we are not having caged snail fights."

"Why not, huh?"

"Because it'd be really mean," said Napstablook, as Hapsta said at the same time, "No one would watch that."

"Look! Look. I'm just saying. You're missing out on business."

"But-" protested Napstablook, "But we've been getting loads of business. Last month we had three whole customers."

"I don't believe what I'm hearing! I thought we owned this farm as a family!"

"Technically, Napsta owns the farm," said Hapsta. "You don't even own a house. You live in ours."

"Whatever!" shouted Tapstablook. "WHATEVER!" They disappeared down the cavern.

"Don't worry," mumbled Napstablook, watching Tapstablook's retreating form. "They'll be fine…"

"I really do apologise on their behalf," sighed Hapsta. "They weren't always so… difficult."

"What… do you mean?" asked Muffet, not quite knowing if she should.

"What we didn't tell you at the table," said Hapsta, "is that we have a fourth cousin. They used to live with us here, too… But we haven't seen them in years and years. They just – disappeared one day. We were all so upset… but it hit Tappy the hardest, I think. They were very close…"

"Tapsta hates it when we talk about it," added Napstablook, their eyes sparkling with fat white tears. "That's why we didn't bring them up."

Muffet wasn't expecting to hear something like this so suddenly, and didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Hapsta came to her rescue.

"But, well, that's in the past!" they said. "So what if Tappy's a little more, er, abrasive? At least we still have the three of us."

"Yeah," said Napstablook, sounding a bit more cheerful. "Come on, let's see Shyren and Brylla."


"You've mentioned Shyren a few times," said Muffet as they travelled. "What is she like?"

"She's lovely!" Hapsta replied. "She has a gorgeous voice, like mine."

"She's really shy," added Napstablook. "She might not want to say hi, if a stranger's here… but it's been a while, so I want to try."

Muffet remembered something, and giggled. "What was that about Tapstablook dancing on the table?"

Napstablook jerked in mid-air, and Hapsta gave a snort of guilty laughter.

Hapsta turned to Muffet. "Promise you won't tell them I told you?"

"Absolutely, dear," she assured.

"Well," began Hapsta. "Napsta was the first friend Shyren made, when she came here with her sister, Brylla. Brylla never particularly cared for meeting anyone, but poor Shyren was so happy to make friends with a local, so they could both settle into the neighbourhood properly…"

"She still hid when I invited her over," said Napstablook.

"She did! How absolutely precious, the poor thing… Anyway, she trusted Napsta well enough, but she was a little frightened of me. And she was absolutely terrified of Tappy. But, eventually, we coaxed her into visiting us…"

"Brylla came, too."

"Yes, that's right. That was a first, too. So there I was, trying to clean the place up, and dear Napsta was being a bundle of nerves, and there was Tappy, dancing on the table as always. 'Stress-dancing', they said. And I'd asked them to stop, because I had just made a pot of tea for Shyren and Brylla… Not normal tea, either! The non-ghost kind."

"And you had just put it on the table," said Napstablook, who was finally wearing a tiny smile. "And we heard a knock at the door."

"And Tappy – blessed Tapstablook – had somehow forgotten what it was all about in the first place, and had no idea we were having people over. They whirled around, yelling something like 'who is it'…"

Muffet covered her mouth, staring with wide eyes.

"…And kicked the tea pot straight off the table," finished Napstablook. "It landed right on the door, just when Shyren was opening it… smashing and spilling tea, just missing her."

"No," breathed Muffet.

"It was the absolute worst thing," giggled Hapsta. "I'd have died, if I could. Shyren was off in a flash, of course."

"Brylla was so mad."

"Oh, dear, she was furious. She's so protective of Shyren."

"She forgave us, eventually…" said Napstablook. "And so did Shyren… she knew it was an accident. But she hasn't come over since. Not while Tapsta might be there…"

"She might make friends with them yet. In a hundred years, or so… Now, we're almost there! Just in that little cave over there. Napsta, you had better go first."

Napstablook floated over to entrance. It was little more than a hole hewn from the blue rock, but Muffet couldn't tell how far it extended. It was pitch black inside.

"Hello," called Napstablook. "Is anyone home?"

Muffet heard the grinding of scales over stone. It sounded like something very large was moving about from within.

"Yes," rumbled a low, resonant voice. "Who's there?"

"Hi, Brylla… It's Hapstablook and me. We came to say hello… we have a friend, too."

"Who?"

"Her name's Muffet… She's not from around here. She's really nice…"

There was some whispering before Brylla replied. "Where's the other one?"

"Tapsta? Oh, um, they're not here. Don't worry, it's just us…"

Something illuminated within the cave, revealing a mass of dark green scales and a huge mouth full of impossibly long teeth. The light came from the tip of some sort of spine or fin attached to the monster's head. Muffet could only assume this was Brylla.

A much smaller pale green monster peeked from behind her.

"Hey, guys!" said Napstablook. "I'm glad you could say hi."

"Shyren agreed," said Brylla. "A friend of yours is good enough for us."

The monster named Shyren leant out a fraction more from behind her sister. Muffet could still barely see her.

"We were in the area, and we have a friend with us who travelled from the Ruins!" said Hapsta. "We were hoping she could meet you."

Shyren darted in front of Brylla and appeared to hum quietly in her ear.

"Shyren's pleased to meet you. So am I. Ruins, huh?" Brylla ran a tongue over her sharp teeth. "We've never been there. That's ages away, am I right?"

"It certainly was a journey," said Muffet. "I'm delighted to meet you both, too."

"How've you been?" asked Napstablook.

"We're good," said Brylla, Shyren pressed against her side. "That royal guard stopped bothering us."

"Who?" asked Hapsta. "Gerson?"

"Yeah. He kept trying to ask if we'd been getting into fights. This isn't the city, damn it." She licked her teeth again. "We got him to leave us alone, though. Think he knows we can look after ourselves."

"Oh, dear… Brylla, you do know he's captain of the guard, right? I do hope you didn't do anything rash."

"'Course I didn't." Shyren hummed into her ear once again. "Why don't you run along and ask him yourself? Since you're showing your friend around. Shyren and I are tired." Brylla dimmed the light of her lure, and the cave became dark again.

"That's a good idea," said Napstablook. "Bye, guys. Thanks for having us."

"Toodles!" called Hapsta.

"Goodbye, Brylla!" said Muffet. "Goodbye, Shyren."

"Yeah," came Brylla's voice from the blackness. "Nice meeting you, Muffet. 'Later." Muffet thought she heard a quiet voice harmonise with the last word.

"That was nice," said Napstablook happily as they left.

"It was," agreed Muffet. "It's lovely being able to meet so many new people. I do see what you meant about Shyren, though."

"Right? She's even more retiring than Napsta… that's why they get along so well! Now, what would we like to do?"

"Who was this 'Gerson' you mentioned? The captain of the guard?"

"Oh, him… he's nice, I guess," said Napstablook vaguely. "He's lived in Waterfall for ages, and been captain, too, so he's kind of scary… but he lives just down the way, if you wanted to meet him…"

"Hm. Yes, I think I'd like to!"

"It was quite interesting for those two to be as comfortable around you as they were, you know," mused Hapsta as they walked. "Shyren is usually far quieter around new people. And because she was relaxed, Brylla was more relaxed, too. You did very well."

"Especially after Tapsta…"

The three shared some nervous laughter before coming across a monster sitting on a rock. He was clad in chainmail, and his exposed body was covered in green scales. He had a huge tortoise shell on his back, and a straggly brown beard. He seemed to be carving stones. If nothing else revealed him to surely be the royal guard, the war hammer leaning against the wall behind him did.

He looked up from his work and blinked at the approaching trio.

"Well, I'll be!" he said. "A spider in the mines! That's good luck."

"I was unaware," said Muffet, giving a polite smile. "I am Muffet, queen of the spiders."

"Name's Gerson. Gerson the Hammer, Captain of the Royal Guard, at your service." He stood with a flourish and turned to face his other two visitors. "And we have two of the Blooks, as well! What's this about, eh? Anything to report?"

"No, Mr. Gerson…" said Napstablook. "We just wanted to say hello."

"That so?" Gerson sat down again with a grin. "Good. Didn't feel like doing work today." He picked up the rocks he had been carving.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you," said Hapsta anxiously. "Brylla said she's been having run-ins with you. She hasn't done anything wrong, has she?"

"Hah!" Gerson barked. "She's a rude one, but she hasn't been picking any fights. She looks after her sister, that much I can tell. Soon as a monster so much as looks at her, that oversized anglerfish is in their face. As long as she keeps it tidy, she'll get no complaints from me. And the little one couldn't cause trouble if she tried."

Hapsta breathed a sigh of relief.

"Bye, Mr. Gerson," said Napstablook.

Gerson winked. "You three stay out of trouble, you hear?"


Back at Napstablook's, they chatted endlessly. It felt much easier without Tapstablook in the room.

"They always do this," said Hapsta when Muffet noted that their cousin still hadn't returned. "Sometimes they can spend weeks all by themselves. They only came home because we told them we would have a guest over."

Eventually Muffet began to yawn, and Hapsta asked what she planned to do next.

"I suppose I hadn't really thought it through," she admitted. "I'll catch the ferry home, or find an inn."

"But it's far too late for you to make your trip home!" gasped Hapsta.

"There's an inn in Temmie Village, I think," said Napstablook. "But it's kind of a pain to get to…"

"And they're a villainously fickle lot. By tomorrow, they'll have probably decided they'd rather run a restaurant than an inn! Why don't you sleep here? I've a spare bed for you. You could set off after you've rested!"

"Why, that would be very kind of you! Though I'd hate to intrude…"

"None of that, darling," said Hapsta firmly. "That's your fourth yawn in two minutes. Come along!"

While Napstablook's house was draughty, sparsely decorated, and none too clean, Hapsta's was almost the complete opposite. The floorboards were sparkling, and the walls were smothered in thick pink wallpaper. Against the wall were well-packed boxes stacked onto each other. A neatly made bed with a pink quilt stood in the corner. It was the only one.

"But where's the spare bed?"

"You're looking at it, silly," laughed Hapsta. "I don't actually sleep on it! You didn't see a bed in Napsta's house, did you?"

"I suppose not," said Muffet. "But then, why do you have it at all?"

"For decoration." Hapsta blushed a light blue. "And… well, because sometimes I like to practise for when I'll be living on the surface. Humans sleep on beds, you know!"

"I see," smiled Muffet. She covered another dainty yawn.

"I had better leave you alone now, darling. You need your beauty sleep, after all! I'll be just next-door with Napsta. Do fetch us if you need anything!"

"Thank you, dearie," yawned Muffet as Hapsta closed the door. Suddenly, the room was quiet.

Muffet took a peek into one of the boxes. It was filled with seemingly random odds and ends of varying states of disrepair, though all quite clean. An old microphone lay next to a bundle of gloves. They didn't look of monster make.

Her shoes clicking on the wooden floor, Muffet walked over to the bed. It was perfectly free of dust, but hadn't seemed to have been slept in in a long time.

She lay on her back, sighing. She'd had an enjoyable day, but an exhausting one, too.

It had been wonderful to see Napstablook again, and she'd gotten along superbly with Hapsta. And they had both assured her that Tapstablook didn't dislike her as much as they seemed to. She supposed that at least was a relief.

She had barely been away for a day, but she found herself fretting about her spiders. She knew they could look after themselves for that long, but she hadn't been apart from them since her mother had died.

She wondered when she had last thought of Poppet. Watching the ghost cousins had reminded her.

Do ghosts have parents? She wondered.

That would not be a very sensitive question.

She thought about the nameless fourth cousin as she fell asleep.


Muffet had prepared to be out for a few days, but she decided to head home soon after the first. She felt a little anxious leaving Lovett and her spiders alone, and she missed Toriel.

"You're leaving already?" asked Hapsta as they gathered with Napstablook by the table. "But you've only just arrived!"

"I'd love to stay with you a little longer, but I feel guilty leaving my spiders alone," said Muffet. "And I'm worried about my little Lovett getting into trouble without me!"

"Aw…" said Napstablook. "That's okay, Muffet. It was really nice having you over. You can come back any time…"

"Thank you, Blooky. I had a wonderful time with you all."

Hapsta, who had appeared to be deep in thought, suddenly leapt up.

"I have an idea!" they cried. "Wait here." They flew from the room.

Muffet and Napstablook barely had time to give each other a confused look before they were back, slamming one of their boxes from their house onto the table excitedly.

"What's this, Hapsta?" asked Muffet.

"Tappy knows I like to collect human things," they replied, "so whenever they find something in the garbage dump that came from the surface, they give it to me. It turned out they took these by mistake, since they're monster made, but now I'm glad they did."

Hapsta flipped the box open, and pulled out a somewhat bulky complicated looking device made of old brass.

"Ta-da!" they sang. "A telegraph machine!"

"Oh?" said Muffet curiously. "I haven't used one of these before."

"Neither have I, really," said Hapsta as they took another telegraph from the box. "I didn't even know they were magical and not human-made until I realised they still worked! We'll keep one, and you can take one with you. That way, we can send messages to each other! Wouldn't that be fabulous?"

"Oh, Hapsta, that's a wonderful idea! But how do they work?"

"Frankly, I have no idea. I was just fiddling with the buttons when it started to whirr! I'm sure we can figure it out. How complicated could it be?"

"That does sound kind of fun," agreed Napstablook.


Soon, Muffet was safely on the ferry, with the precious telegraph tucked under her arm in a bag. The river person had been waiting for her. Hapsta waved a handkerchief in farewell, and Napstablook tried not to cry. Even Tapstablook had come to see her off.

Without Napstablook, the trip home was even less eventful than the voyage to Waterfall. Muffet occasionally trailed her fingers in the water.

After an hour had passed in perfect silence, the river person turned their head towards her.

"It's definitely orange," they said.

"Thank you," said Muffet.


It was late in the afternoon when Muffet eventually hopped from the ferry onto the wet grass north of Snowdin. She shivered and drew her coat tighter around her, burying her hands deep in her pockets. She ought to have dressed more warmly, but she had left the Ruins on impulse.

It was a fine day for this region's standards, and monsters were sitting outside or going for walks, enjoying the mild weather while it lasted. Muffet sidestepped a few children who were being called inside by their parents, and trudged towards the forest.

The wild animals of the woods had become somewhat acquainted to the sight of her, and tended to let her pass without incident while eyeing her from the shadows. And when the odd gyftrot or snowdrake did leap out at her, she needed only bare her fangs to send them scurrying. It wasn't an unpleasant walk, but all the same, she was relieved when she saw the great walls of the Ruins loom in front of her.

Lovett sniffed eagerly at her heels, almost making her stumble, and her spiders clamoured around her. Some demanded to know why they hadn't been invited along, but quickly lost interest when she told them of the long ferry ride. None of them cared for water. She told them everything about the rather dynamic family of ghosts, and of the snail farm, and of everyone else she had met.

"It's just as well you weren't there, my sweet," she said as she tickled Lovett on the head, "or you would have gobbled every one of those snails up!"

For the spiders, the night was yet young, but Toriel kept different hours, and Muffet wanted to say hello to her before she went to bed. She trotted towards her house at a brisk pace and smiled when she saw light streaming through the shuttered windows. Toriel's face broke into a wide smile when she opened the door to see her.

"Why, hello, Muffet! I found your note, and was not sure when to expect you back. Would you like to come inside?"

When Muffet stepped inside the warm house, she immediately smelt cooking. Toriel must have noticed her looking towards the kitchen.

"Would you like to join me for dinner?" she asked. "It is nothing terribly fancy, I am afraid. I have just finished baking a snail pie."

Muffet realised she hadn't had a thing to eat all day.

"That sounds lovely, dearie."

Over the comfortable sounds of cutlery on porcelain, and the crackling of the fireplace, the two chatted about their days. Muffet told her about Napstablook, and was surprised to learn she recognised the name.

"I have been to their farm many times," she said. "I used to purchase all my snails from them. How nice that they have made a friend!"

"That's strange. I invited them to meet you when they came to visit, and they didn't seem to know who you were."

"They are of a vague sort, are they not?" answered Toriel with a smile. "They never asked for my name. I was happy to do my shopping as someone other than a queen. It was quite refreshing."

At the end of their meal, Toriel asked "But what is that you have there?"

"Hm?" Muffet looked at the lumpy bag that sat by her chair. She had forgotten she had brought it with her. "Oh! This is a telegraph. The cousins gave it to me." She placed it onto the table. "We're not sure how it works, though."

"A telegraph!" said Toriel, leaning forward. "I have used these quite often before. Would you like me to show you how to operate it? Provided the magic has not worn off."

"How lucky! Yes, please do."

"Humans use these too, I believe, but one of our royal scientists discovered a way to make them run on magic, instead of those fussy wires. Look, do you see this?" Toriel gestured to a round appendage shaped like a reel that protruded from the side of the telegraph machine. Muffet nodded, and stood to walk to Toriel's side to get a better look. "This is the receiver. It will print out the telegrams on a long strip of paper – if it has been correctly loaded, of course."

"Does it need a particular sort of paper?" asked Muffet.

"It should not do, as long as the paper you have has been cut to fit the machine. My goodness, this receiver still has paper in it! I wonder how old it is."

"Hapstablook told me Tapstablook found it in a rubbish dump."

"I suppose it would be best if we did not know more, after all. Now, here -" Toriel turned the machine until the other side was facing them. "-is the transmitter key. This is how you send your telegram. Tell me, Muffet, are you familiar with Morse Code?"

Muffet shook her head. "I'm afraid I am not."

Toriel laughed. "I see we might have our work cut out for us! Very well." She rose to her feet and fetched a pencil and paper. "'Morse' is a code the humans invented to transfer messages nonverbally. You may think of it as composed of 'dots' and 'dashes', which, in various combinations, represent different letters. These 'dots' and 'dashes' may be represented visually…" She drew a neat dot followed by a line on the sheet of paper. "…Or with sound." She pressed down on the key twice – first, just for a moment, then for a full second. The result was a short burst of electronic sound followed by a drawn out one. Muffet jumped. It was surprisingly loud.

"Each letter corresponds to a unique combination of 'dashes' and 'dots'," continued Toriel. "The letter 'a' is represented by a dot, followed by a dash. She wrote an 'a' on the paper, and a dash and a dot beside it. "You will find that the more common a letter is, the simpler it will be represented in Morse Code."

To Muffet's surprise, Toriel put the pencil in her hand.

"We will go through the alphabet together, and you will copy down the Morse Code for each letter as I tell you," she said seriously.

"What's this, Toriel?" laughed Muffet. "I didn't know you were a teacher!"

Toriel blushed. "I apologise," she said sheepishly. "I did not mean to talk for so long. I have always wanted to be a teacher. We could drop this now, if you like."

"Oh, no, no, I would love for you to teach this to me. I think you're being a wonderful teacher."

Toriel turned a slightly deeper pink, and smiled. "Well then! The letter 'b' is written with a dash, followed be three dots…"


Muffet was quick to learn. She had an excellent memory for anything numerical, and writing in dots and dashes was a little like adding numbers, in a way. Toriel was pleased.

"That will be enough for tonight, I think," she eventually said. "You may take this sheet with you for practise." She winked. "Homework."

Muffet smiled a little wearily. She had enjoyed being taught by Toriel, but her head was beginning to spin. She stretched in her chair, not wanting the night to end.

But Toriel seemed to have an idea. She asked Muffet to stay put for a moment, then stood and hurried to the kitchen. Muffet heard some clinking, and a cabinet opening. Toriel reappeared after a moment, carrying two glasses and a bottle of amber liquid.

"I do not drink very often," she said, "but I think a small glass of whisky would go down very well tonight, if you would like to join me."

"That sounds absolutely perfect." Muffet didn't recognise the label on the bottle of whisky, but it looked very expensive. Toriel must have brought it with her from the castle.

Toriel settled in her armchair, and Muffet sat where she had moved her seat across from her beside the fireplace. They each sighed in contentment, and shared a smile.

Muffet raised her glass from her lap and sniffed cautiously. It smelt so strongly she immediately wrinkled her nose. She was no stranger to alcohol, but had rarely drunk anything stronger than the ciders and wines she and her spiders brewed. She had a sip. It certainly was harsh, but quite pleasant.

They chatted cosily. Muffet felt her limbs loosen a little more each time the whisky burned its way down her throat. She wasn't sure if it was due to the drink or the fire, but she was beginning to feel terribly warm.

They finished their glasses, and refilled them. Toriel serenely sipped from hers with a redness to her cheeks and a smile. Muffet began to giggle and raise her voice. Toriel had drunk no less than her, so why did she still look so graceful and composed? That certainly wasn't fair. Her fur even seemed to glow.

Muffet was just marvelling at how long and soft Toriel's ears looked when she heard her repeating her name.

"Muffet?" came Toriel's voice. "Are you feeling well?"

Muffet tried to respond, but couldn't seem to find the words.

"Oh, dear… perhaps we should say goodnight."

Toriel wanted to sleep. That was a true shame, but Muffet knew it had been coming. After all, they had been sitting and talking and drinking for… how long?

She put down her glass and stood with a huff. Perhaps a little too quickly. She tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs and immediately snorted with laughter. Toriel was saying something. She tried to rise to her feet but settled for rolling onto her back. Toriel's face appeared above her. Such an angelic face.

"You might have had a little much to drink, I am afraid," she said.

"Toriel," said Muffet breathlessly. "Shh." She pointed a finger upwards and began to laugh again.

Toriel chuckled in exasperated endearment. "I do not think you can walk through the Ruins in this state. Let me help you up. I will walk you to bed." She extended a hand. Muffet took it with three of hers and clumsily hoisted herself up.

"Thank you, dearie," she slurred. "But I do believe I'm fine. I just need a moment."

"You need a proper rest."

Still holding Toriel's hand, Muffet took a wobbly step. Her boot skidded on the floor and she began to topple with a shriek, but Toriel effortlessly scooped her up into her arms. Cradled against her chest, Muffet found herself in close proximity to Toriel's face. Her heart began to hammer.

"My dear Muffet," sighed Toriel fondly as she carried her down the passageway. "I did not take you to be such a lightweight… What am I going to do with you?"

Muffet wasn't listening, but she was extremely interested in the way Toriel's face was moving.

She leant up and gave her a kiss on the nose.

Toriel came to a jerky halt.

"M-Muffet?" Did she stammer?

But Muffet was spent. She sagged into Toriel's arms, limbs hanging limply.

"You're very soft," she mumbled into her fur. Then she began to snore, face pressed into the crook of Toriel's arm.

Toriel didn't move. She stood still for several minutes, feeling the little spider queen breathe in and out.

Then – carefully, so as not to make much noise – she padded to her bedroom and laid her charge down onto her own bed. She gently pulled the quilt up to her chin. She spent a little while longer listening to her snuffle quietly in her sleep.

And then, she backed out of the room, and slowly returned to doze in her armchair.