Chapter 29
An hour and a half later, Grissom had talked Fluffy down from her bristling state. It had been easy, he thought, compared to having to talk Sara down from one – and he had a lot of experience with that. Smiling at that thought, he looked up at Sara. She was looking at him, he saw. No, not at him, exactly . . . she was focused on Fluffy, who was currently sitting on his left shoulder. He put up a hand and let the spider feel her way onto it. When she was safely cradled in his palm, he inched closer to Sara.
"What are you doing, Grissom? I, uh . . . could you just stay over there with that thing?" He thought she would have forked the evil eye at him if her hands hadn't already been occupied by a journal.
"What's this? Sara Sidle, the iron-willed and iron-stomached, afraid of a little spider?" He scooted over another foot.
Sara was immensely grateful that Grissom had invested in a large couch. "It's not the spider part that scares me so much as the fact that that thing is NOT little! Small spiders I can handle. But big furry ones? Uh-uh, no way, I'll thank you to keep them to yourself." After a moment, she added, "And keep yourself at least three feet away from me."
Grissom chuckled. "She doesn't bite humans, Sara, I promise. Anyway, tarantula venom is hardly damaging to homo sapiens sapiens; we're entirely too big to be injured by a little shot of Fluffy's juice."
Sara was not comforted. "I know that, intellectually. But still, spider bites are painful. And . . . that thing is HAIRY!"
Grissom compressed his lips, trying to hide his smile. "So am I, Sara, and you seem to like me." He was amused when she blinked, speechless for the moment. "Besides, if you're going to . . . spend time . . . with me, you'll have to get used to the other woman in my life: my spider."
She grimaced. He wasn't really trying to blackmail her into liking his spider, was he? "So does that mean that if 'Fluffy' here doesn't like me, I get the boot?"
Grissom was offended. "Sara! Of course not! I may like my bugs, but I like you more."
Sara stared at him. Such a concession from Gil "Bugman" Grissom was huge. Disgusted with herself, she realized that she actually felt ten times better now that he'd said she was more important than a bug. Why shouldn't she, Sara Sidle, be more important than some eight-legged beast? That line of reason didn't get her far, though, as she soon realized that Grissom tended to like bugs a lot more than he liked humans; for him to prefer a human, that person would have had to make an incredible impression on him.
A smile slowly spread across Sara's face. Apparently she really did affect him that much. Feeling charitable, Sara sighed. "Ok Gil. I'll . . . touch it. If I must. But I'm telling you, if it bites, or jumps on me, or anything, you're SO dead."
" 'She,' Sara – Fluffy's a she, not an it." He realized that Sara probably didn't care, and if she knew anything about spiders she probably wouldn't want him to keep reminding her of the sex of the one in question; female arachnids are much more aggressive than males. He decided he'd leave out that tidbit the next time he plugged spiders to her.
"Ok, come here," he continued. Sara gave him a long, wary look and moved toward him, sitting back down about a foot from him. "Closer, Sara – I want her to be able to walk between our hands."
Sara scowled, muttering, "I have long arms," but she moved an inch closer and stretched out her arm, palm down. Grissom made a twirling motion with his hand, telling her to flip her hand over. "I'd rather not expose my radial artery to it."
"Trust me, Sara. She's used to being held in a palm. Making her sit on the back of your hand might get her . . . agitated," Grissom protested, knowing full well the effect his comment would have on her. He was right; no sooner were the words out of his mouth than Sara's palm was facing up. Apparently "agitated" was not the state she wanted the tarantula to be in. "Now, I'm going to encourage her to walk onto your hand. You'll feel a tickle, so please don't jerk when you do."
Sara gulped. "Oookay . . ." Please god don't let her hand shake. Spiders bit when frightened. Closing her eyes, she opened her palm, laying her fingers under Grissom's. The hairs on the back of his fingers were itching her hand. "Ok, just DO it!"
"She's there, Sara. Open your eyes."
Sara looked down and eyed the spider. The spider appeared to be eyeing her in return. "You promise she won't bite?" Grissom nodded with a "do I need to repeat myself?" look on his face. "Um . . . nice spider. Nice Fluffy. Umm . . . my name's Sara. Hi. Please don't bite me . . ."
Grissom listened to Sara ramble to the spider. She was actually trying to make friends with his pet tarantula . . . just to make him happy. He cupped Sara's palm in his, holding Fluffy with her. Raising his other hand, he laid it lightly on the nape of her neck. Sara beamed at him, flushing slightly. "Sara . . . you're amazing."
