I do not own Everyday Life With Monstergirls
Chapter 26: Console and confront
"So?" The light brown colored small-breed arachne asked while laying her file on her desk. "How's the bondage going?"
Jack started in his seat. "W-What?" He lifted a hand. "H-how did you... know.." He glanced up at his arachne girlfriend just to his right. She was admonishing him with a look. Something between 'really?' and 'you're so innocent it's cute'.
Agent Serilla chuckled. "You're dating an arachne Jack. It kinda comes with the territory."
Jack blinked a few times as he worked out her implication. "So wait...like...all arachne do that? With their boyfriends?"
Serilla smirked. "Pretty much. The frequency and severity vary from couple to couple but.." She nodded. "The most successful relationships find a happy medium both partners can be comfortable with."
Jack was still shocked over that little revelation that he asked a fairly redundant follow-up. "So then you and your husband-"
The agent lifted two fingers. "Twice a week. Depending on our schedules."
Jack leaned back and blinked few times. "Okay, TMI." Serilla chuckled lightly.
Tetra tilted her head quizzically. "TMI?"
"Too Much Information." Serilla and Jack answered together.
The agent waved a hand. "Most humans in this country consider the intimate practices of any couple to be the purview of just those two." She explained. "Talking about it casually with anyone else is considered highly inappropriate."
Tetra rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Riiiight..." Jack hunched his shoulders.
"So." The small breed sat up. "At the risk of repeating myself...How's it going?"
Jack slumped in his seat and Tetra glanced off to the side. "In a word," He said. "It's not."
Serilla pressed her lips together and inclined her head, inviting him to continue.
"We tried." He lifted a hand. "We really tried only a few hours ago actually...but." He lowered his eyes and stared at the floor. "I,I just...couldn't."
The agent blinked slowly. "May I ask what happened?"
Jack nodded his head gradually. "Yeah..yeah." He looked back up at her. "We took it slow. She put in an additional lamp in the room for lighting. I did my best to...relax into it." He smirked. "To trust her and let her do her thing."
He gazed downward again and placed his hands over themselves. "But when she went around...when I lost sight of her and...she started on my legs and I was being lifted off the ground...I." He swallowed and blinked several times. "I..I was..." The trailed off as his breathing picked up.
"You were back in the warehouse." Tetra stated quietly. "With Marian."
Jack's head shot up. "I didn't want to. It just happened." He pleaded. "I knew it wasn't her. I knew it was Tetra. But I just.." He dipped his head back down and clutched it in shame. "I freaked, I panicked. I-I almost forgot the damn safe word."
Agent Serilla raised a hand. "That's enough Jack. Don't force yourself." She placed that hand on her desk and scribbled a note or two on a pad of paper. He faced back to the floor and reasserted his breathing.
"I was afraid of this." She mused. "Let's pivot for a moment." She faced them directly. "You said on the questionnaire that you're no longer experiencing the nightmares." She tilted her head to the side. "How have you achieved that?"
Jack took in a breath and exhaled, trying to expel his distress. "Um.." He refocused and looked over at his girlfriend. "She plays music."
The agent's eyes lowered. Not in disappointment but...annoyed incomprehension. "You'll have to elaborate."
Tetra closed her eyes a moment. "My mother used to have trouble sleeping." She cracked open her eyes a slit. "Probably still does." She almost growled. Jack picked up a hint of satisfaction from her tone.
He didn't comment.
"I played music for her, at night." She said. "Mother claimed that it helped."
Serilla leaned her head back. "How did you know to do that?"
Tetra tilted her head up and gazed back through her past. "I...overheard several arachne discuss something. At a Taranto Ball..." She leaned forward and her eyes opened wide. "Ah. That was it. They were talking about ways of relieving stress that their partners could participate in." She nodded confidently to herself. "One of them claimed that her husband would have recurring nightmares when she wasn't around." She lifted a claw. "But if she played music for him before she left for a long hunt or whatever, he wouldn't."
"After that I...'acquired' an instrument and tried practicing it." She smirked ruefully. "I was so bad the first time I attempted to play." She shook her head astonishingly. "Mother jumped and ran out of the cave when she heard it."
"She was going to force me give it up, but I pleaded and cried and argued that I was doing it for her." She sighed. "She only relented when I said I just wanted her to sleep better."
The larger arachne faced upward. "She had a weird look on her face then. I'm not sure what it was." A beat. "But, she relented."
Tetra faced forward again. "After that, I sought out the musicians from the Taranto Balls and practically begged them to teach me." She sighed grudgingly. "I did so many favors... retrieved so many items and supplies. I was definitely being taken advantage of." Her face set. "But I didn't care. I was going to help my mother, they only way I knew how."
She chuckled mirthlessly. "I don't know why I was so convinced it would work. But eventually, I came up with my own composition." She sniffed and smiled lightly. "And it worked." She faced ahead unfocused. "It worked." She closed her eyes and held them. "It...worked."
Jack could sense every complicated feeling out of her words and he laid a hand on her arm. "It was worth it." He said quietly.
She smiled brightly and faced back to him. She sniffed in a breath. "Yes. I suppose it was."
Serilla nodded silently, gears turning in her head. "Alright. I think that's it." Both her clients faced her abruptly. She held up a hand. "Sorry, I want to go back to your bondage issue."
Both sets of eyebrows lowered. "What's 'it'?" Jack asked.
The agent offered a hand. "You play music."
All eight eyes blinked a few times between the couple. "I, I don't.." Jack stammered.
"Not live music, mind you." Serilla stated. "But set up a couple speakers and play something relaxing or comfortable. Something you both like."
Jack rubbed a finger on his chin. "Huh, that's not a baaad idea..."
Tetra tapped a claw on the 'knee' of her pedipalp. "It would have to be something soft. Serene." Her eye narrowed in concentration. "Nothing too distracting."
"Of course." The agent shrugged. "Experiment, keep trying." She held up a claw. "The worst thing you can do is to give up."
Jack eyed the agent as Tetra nodded firmly. "Is it really that..." He paused to consider a proper term. "that..essential to relationships with arachne?"
Serilla smirked ruefully this time. "We're predators Jack. Always have been. It's in our nature to capture something that interests us." Jack stayed silent. "The objective is to fulfill our drive to hunt while not causing undue harm to our partner." She raised a hand with her fingers splayed out horizontally. "It is a delicate balance."
Her eyes saddened a shade. "One that I'm afraid is more delicate in your case." She put her arm down.
Jack's head dipped and Tetra growled. "Marian."
The agent stared ahead silently a moment. "If I may, and I know that this is grossly presumptuous of me, but..." She sighed and faced him directly. "I'd like to apologize for her actions on behalf of all arachne."
Jack lifted his eyes at her quizzically..
Tetra folded her arms. "She can only apologize for herself." Not that she would. The scar on her cheek itched.
Jack shook his head slowly a few times. "Yeah...that's not...really your call."
Serilla closed her eyes and nodded. "I know. I just wanted you to know that this...incident has made waves in our community." She opened them back up and stared at him seriously. "Several of my people have stated that they would like to meet you and... express their regret over the actions of one of their own." She nodded and glanced off at an angle. "Yes, regret is a better word."
Jack narrowed his eyes a bit. "Several? I didn't know that there were a lot of arachne around here."
"Oh, there are more than a few around this region." She lifted a hand. "But I meant that what happened to you has been reported to several communities of arachne around the world. They've expressed their thoughts on the matter in our forums."
Jack blinked several times. "Forums?"
"Yes." The agent gave him a curious look. "On the internet." She prompted.
When he didn't answer she looked at him askance. "I know you're aware of the internet Mr. Keysman."
"Ah. Yeah." He raised a hand. "I'm just..." He closed his eyes a moment in contemplation. "Just...It didn't." He breathed out and reopened his eyes. "It didn't occur to me that arachne or liminals in general used the internet all that much." He glanced between the two monster girls embarrassed. "I probably should have realized that."
Tetra shrugged at his side. "I don't have a lot of use for it."
Serilla nodded her head slowly and hummed. "That makes a bit of sense." She casually gestured at Tetra. "You've not grown up near humans or other liminals that use that technology regularly." A claw stroked under her chin. "But these days at least one member of any known community of liminals keeps abreast of advances in human technology." She gave a slight smirk. "Several arachne have become quite adept at..." She lifted a hand and curled two fingers in a quick motion. "..'surfing the web' as you humans put it."
Tetra twitched her head with interest. Jack narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
The agent chuckled. "Well..." She offered a hand. "Since you humans also called the internet the 'world wide web'..." Tetra leaned her head back with a creeping, knowing smirk. "...we took that as a challenge."
Jack blinked. "A challenge?" Then it hit him. "Oh duh." He slapped a palm on his forehead. "The...web." He shook his head. "Oh my gods." He chuckled. "Of course."
He looked right at the small breed after a moment. "You know that's just a metaphor right?"
She folded her arms with a grin." Oh we know. Doesn't stop us from learning code and delving the deep web."
Jack blinked and reared his head. "You go into the deep web?" She smirked and nodded.
Tetra glanced between the two. "What's the... 'deep web'?"
Jack turned and craned his head up. "It's a big part of the internet that's not regulated and-" He caught a hard glint coming from the small breed's eyes out of the corner of his vision. "...er..um." He oriented back to the desk. "Maybe I should let someone who's actually been there..." He blinked. "Explain it. Oh damn it." He placed both palms against his forehead.
His girlfriend looked down at him. "Something wrong Jack?"
He covered his face with his hands and slid them down his cheeks. "Yeah." He sighed. "I just caught myself mansplaining." Tetra cocked her head curiously.
Serilla smiled and held up a claw. "Technically, she did ask. So it's not mansplaining." She pointed that claw at herself. "But since I have actual experience..."
"And I don't, so it counts." Jack finished and looked away, shame clearly evident on his face. He waved a hand at her. "Go ahead."
Tetra held an arm toward the agent. "Wait." She turned to her boyfriend. "What's wrong Jack?" He let his shoulders droop. "What's..'mansplaining?"
He grimaced and stood up. He kept his back to the two ladies. "Something my dad would do to my mom all the time."
The darker arachne took a few seconds to recall the few times Jack spoke of his parents. "You said he condescended to her."
Jack nodded. "A lot. I hated it." He turned back to them. "That's mansplaining."
Tetra squinted one half of her eyes. "It's a... form of condescension?"
"When it is done by a man to a woman." Serilla clarified. "Which, again," She casually waved at Jack. "You technically did not do." He shrugged but kept his head down.
All of Tetra's eyes narrowed. "Why is there a clearly gender biased term for this? Condescension can be done by anybody."
Serilla glanced upward briefly. "I'll admit it is used specifically to shame men." She ran her eyes over Jack. "Not many men use it on themselves ."
"Those that do are right." He stated and held his head back up. "The first time I heard of the term was from an article." He breathed out. "The writer, a man, was introducing one friend to another friend and they got to discussing costumes from movie sets."
He held up an index finger. "His female friend said that a certain character's costume was inspired by an old children's book."
Jack held up his other index finger. "His male friend disagreed and went into a whole spiel about various cultural influences and the deeper meaning of the colors and patterns. He even claimed he read an article quoting the director of the movie."
He inclined his head. "His female friend listened patiently. Then she said her full name. 'I am Edna Headsman. I designed costumes for that film. I sewed it myself.'"
Tetra took that it in for half a minute. Then she folded her arms. "Alright. That would be irritating." She leaned forward. "Still doesn't explain why it's 'mansplaining'" One of her hands flipped out, palm up. "I've met plenty of condescending women who argue for things out of total ignorance."
"It's..." Jack grimaced. "It's cause men do it a lot more in my society...probably?" He frowned. Something about that sounded... inaccurate, in his head. Or at least, something he couldn't actually say with factual confidence. "I don't really know."
His girlfriend stared at him a few seconds. "I think you're being overly critical of yourself Jack." His expression mollified a degree. "And you're using a biased term to skew your perception of yourself."
He swallowed and his eyes unfocused. Tetra raised a hand. "Let's go back and review." She cleared her throat. "I asked about the deep web."
"And I jumped in with my half-know-" Jack started.
"You honestly tried to be helpful." Tetra stated firmly over him. "You were not being condescending to me."
"I-" Jack glanced over at the agent. "Kinda was to her."
Tetra gazed across the desk. Agent Serilla nodded her head side to side. "I'll admit my own annoyance at seeing someone explain something that I have much more experience and knowledge of." Her tone dipped a bit. "But Tetra is right Jack." She waved a claw at him. "You are being overly critical of yourself." He blinked a few times.
She waved a hand at him. "You were on the right track, but I think you misinterpreted my reaction as something more severe." He gazed downward thoughtfully and sat back down. "In addition, it is well within your responsibilities to inform and teach your guests about the world as much as you can." He didn't react.
Serilla sighed and folded her claws together. "Let me put it this way: If I hadn't been in the room and the same subject came up, would your actions qualify as mansplaining?"
He focused on a seam in the hardwood floor. "No." He nodded lightly and looked up. "No they wouldn't."
The agent smirked. "Then I will choose to view your words as an honest attempt to inform. No condescension." She waved a hand at him. "No need for self-recrimination."
Jack paused a moment and then let out a sigh. Tetra smiled lightly at his side.
"This does bring up another subject I'd like to visit though." Both her clients looked her way. "Your relationship with your parents."
They glanced at each other. Then they nodded.
"What would you like to know?" Jack asked.
Counselor Serilla followed her clients out of her office. She was going to let them go for the day but a nagging thought at the back of her mind insisted on being aired.
"Ah, Mr. Keysman." She raised a hand as they both turned around. "I'm hesitant to inform you but...I thought you should both know..."
They glanced at each other and then back to her. "Know what?" Tetra asked.
Serilla took in a large breath and let it out slowly. "I think you should know that ...Marian is currently in one of our holding cells here."
Jack's shoulders twitched and his eyes widened. Tetra's eyes narrowed and her claws curled into fists.
The agent swallowed. "If you would like...I can arrange a meeting, before we transport her back to Belize."
"You want Jack and that bitch in the same room?" Tetra almost yelled. Her eyes blazed.
Serilla backed a step and lifted both palms. "She's heavily restrained and there's a reinforced glass panel she can be observed from. It's completely safe."
Tetra continued to glare. Jack just stared in near dread.
Finally he cleared his throat. "Wh-why...why would you think that seeing her again... would help me?"
Serilla gazed back with concern. "I think it would help your... temperament if you confronted her."
Silence followed.
Tetra's expression relented a degree. "Why is she even here?"
The agent dipped her head. "Final processing before we send her back. We had to wait for her matriarch to arrive to collect her." She faced back up. "We couldn't just send her on a plane with a typical escort like some deportees. She's been kept in a cell here since she recovered." She raised a hand. "Agent Magnus recalled nearly all of my team yesterday. To prepare for this."
He narrowed his eyes. "Why is her matriarch coming all the way here?"
Serilla tilted her head slightly. "Because she vouched for her."
Jack and Tetra shot her critical stares.
"Oh right." Serilla briefly closed her eyes. "You wouldn't know because Tetra arrived here without a mistress' recommendation."
Jack glanced to the side and then back to her. "Arachne need to be vouched for before they can join the Exchange?"
Serilla shrugged and held up a hand. "Well they don't need to be. But it helps with the vetting process."
"Mmm." The larger liminal noted. "An arachne's behavior here reflects on her mistress." She nodded. "Good way of gauging compliance with human laws. She wouldn't send a representative that disobeyed her own community's rules or her decisions."
Serilla nodded positively. "Precisely." She held out a hand. "You were banished from the Pyrenees and never rejoined another arachne community before coming to America." She held up a claw. "I believe we asked the matriarchs and elders of that lamia town you were in for recommendation letters."
Tetra held her gaze a moment. "May I see those?"
The agent rattled her head. "Uh..I think you can. I'm not sure who's got 'em." She placed a stubby claw under her chin. "I suppose one of the secretaries might know."
Jack held up a hand. "Um..." The two women paused and looked at him. "You really think... I should..." He swallowed. "Confront her?"
Serilla grimaced. "I don't know...if it will really help." She faced him directly. "But I know that this would be your only chance today." She folded her arms. "In all likelihood you will never see her again."
Jack slowly gazed up to his girlfriend. She didn't seem to be swayed one way or another. "This is your decision Jack. I'll still be here for you one way or another." She folded her arms. "But I will not be any closer to that..." She paused and spat out a very specific Nepali slur involving a sickly goat and a blunt instrument. "...than I have to be."
He leaned back and let out a breath. "Alright." He glanced back down to the small-breed. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."
She nodded grimly. "Lets get those letters first and then I'll see to getting you into the security wing."
Jack sat alone on the other side of the glass. Well he wasn't entirely alone.
Monica and Craglin stood ramrod straight in flanking position of the cell. Ready to react to any threat.
But they hadn't said anything besides a polite hello or two. Otherwise they'd been silent wardens. So it felt lonely to Jack.
The cell itself was dark and bare. Three walls of stark white bricks in a sturdy unbroken pattern. A gray steel door the width and height of a truck swung open.
Jack tensed as an orange jumpsuit clad monster skittered through. The back-light from the room it entered from accented its hard angles and numerous slim limbs .
The door closed behind the creature and the cell's lights hummed to life.
Thick padded brown gloves adorned her hands. Her wrists were shackled with a short rod. Several chains were fastened to tight steel hoops around the middle section of each leg.
For just a moment, only a moment, Jack felt a little bit of sympathy for the woman in the cell just across from him.
Then as the lights fully illuminated the room. He remembered staring up at her blue hair and red eyes and the feeling of abject helplessness and terror that night. The memory blended with the recent nightmare of her return. His muscles stiffened.
She gazed at him through the glass.
"Oh. It's you." The half of a dime sized holes in the thick glass only slightly muffled her disappointed tone. Like she expected someone else to be sitting in his spot.
A brief moment of vertigo seized him. Then something in Jack's head snapped and he stood up violently. The stool clattered over and rolled to the opposite wall. He knew anger hadn't helped him in the past, he already regretted the few times he'd shown it in front of his guests. But this time. This time.
This time it felt right.
"You almost killed me!"
The arachne swayed an inch from the irate human.
After a moment she opened her mouth. "I understand your anger, but that was never my goal."
"Intentions are immaterial." Jack rattled off and folded his arms. Marian narrowed an eye. "I thought Tetra was being too harsh with her judgments at first." He stuck an arm out and placed a finger against the glass. "But after what you put me and my friends through. After what you did to me." He paused to control the rage in his voice. "I completely understand." He let the venom of his vitriol drip into his tone. "Marian."
She didn't react. She wasn't privy to the fact that up until that very second he was completely terrified of her. He still was, but now that terror was spiked with rage and resentment. The ugly feeling seeped in his mind and he let it show on his face.
She stayed silent as she regarded him.
He let his arm down. "Did you even try to contact the Exchange and explain your concerns about Tetra?"
She just stared.
"Did you even consider how any of that would look?" Jack waved a hand to the side. "Breaking into my house, kidnapping me in the middle of the night. On a full moon night?"
Her face hadn't so much as twitched.
"What even was your plan?" He whined. "You take me to that abandoned building and then what?" He waved an arm expectantly.
Marian raised an eyebrow. "I would have let you go in the morning."
Jack considered that detail for all of half a second. "I would have been DEAD by then."
Finally she pressed her eyes closed and dipped her chin. Finally she showed an ounce of shame.
That should have been enough, a nonverbal acknowledgment of her wrongdoing. But Jack wanted more.
"You tried to get away with it too." He growled. "After Sula brought me to the medics, you tried to escape." He placed a finger against the glass again. "And when Tetra moved to stop you, you attempted to kill her." His voice was starting to get raw.
Her eyes cracked open a sliver and a grimace creased her lips.
They stared at each other for maybe half a minute.
Jack stepped back from the glass. "You're not going to even apologize are you?" She continued to stare and didn't open her mouth.
He turned toward Monica, still standing sentinel. "I'm done here." He turned on his heel and marched through the door as it buzzed and unlocked.
Agent Serilla was there in the hall along with a middle aged man Jack didn't recognize. He wore a plaid button-up with a gray undershirt. Light brown slacks held up by a black leather belt. White tennis shoes and blacks socks adorned his feet.
Jack started to pivot when the man raised his hand. "Ah, Mr. Keysman?"
Irritation flashed on Jack's face. "What? What do you want?"
The man lowered his hand to his chest. "I..I'm ..Henry Tucker."
The name rang a bell but Jack couldn't care less at the moment. He managed to hold his tongue but his eyes scrutinized the other person like an aristocrat to an uppity peasant. He noted apprehension on the man's face but didn't spare any concern for it.
"I am..or I was..." The man continued. "Marian's host."
Jack blinked and reared his head. "Oh."
He closed his eyes and took a slow breath to attempt to consider civil behavior for the next minute or so. "Sorry." Jack said as he reopened his eyes. "I'm a little..upset right now."
Mr. Tucker bowed. "I understand. Believe me." He lifted his hand again. "I'd like to apologize-"
"Don't." Jack stated.
Mr. Tucker blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"Don't." Jack repeated and folded his arms. "Don't apologize for her."
He glanced down at the floor. "I-I still feel some resposibilit-"
"Did you know she was going to kidnap me?" Jack's steely tone cut through the air.
Henry's eyes flashed and he held up both hands. "No, no. I had no idea she was even going to leave the house. She didn't tell me anything." He glanced to the side. "She, she was acting kinda strange." He faced back to Jack. "But I thought that was just the full moon affecting her like it always does."
A beat. "Then you have nothing to apologize for." Jack stated. "She acted on her own and I do not blame you at all sir." Mr. Tucker slumped in relief.
"I should be going now." Jack said and looked down toward Agent Serilla. She had stared at him silently for the whole conversation.
Probably trying to gauge my mental state.
He really didn't care about that right now.
"Tetra?" Jack asked.
The small breed waved an arm down the hall. "She's in the lobby, waiting for you."
"Good." Jack turned and resumed his march.
The drive home was quiet. Tetra kept an eye on her host from the back of the van while she pretended to review the print-outs of the recommendation letters.
Jack barely said anything after he emerged from the security wing. He asked if she was ready to go and that was it.
She desperately wanted to ask him how it went, but the rage in his eyes scared her. She had seen him angry before, but this...this was something different, deeper. Normally he's quite verbose when he's mad. But silence, silence was something new.
And she didn't know how to approach it. Or if she should at all.
Things were...not tense between them right now. Not tenuous either, but definitely not in a sustainable state. She was afraid that if she said the wrong thing she might set him off. Like her mother would when she got in a particularly foul mood.
The arachne scowled to herself. No that was wrong. Jack is nothing like mother.
She pondered her options the entire trip. There has to be something...but if he doesn't talk to me...
The last minute or so of the drive home she despaired that her own silence was feeding his silence and that it might continue and cause real damage.
She unbuckled and let herself out of the back of the van after he parked it.
"Jack." She called softly as she approached around the vehicle.
He looked her way and some of that fire was still there. He took in a breath. "I... don't want to talk right now."
The kitchen door opened and Sula waved at them. "Welcome back." She smiled. "I put some sandwiches together for you both."
Jack swiveled his head up at her. "I'm..not hungry."
The lamia studied both of their faces with concern. "What's wrong? Did something go bad at your meeting?"
Tetra stepped up and laid a hand on Jack's shoulder lightly. "He confronted Marian."
The echidna's eyes widened and then immediately narrowed. "What did she say?"
Their host shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it." He sighed. "Not..not yet."
He snapped his head up suddenly. "Sula. I think I need your help."
She slithered down a few steps and offered a hand. "What can I do?"
His eyes hardened and his hands clenched at his sides. "I need to hit something." The growl he incorporated would do a werewolf proud.
The echidna nodded curtly. "I'll meet you in the gym in a few minutes. Let me get some things." She raised a claw up to his face. "Do NOT start without me."
His eyebrows furrowed and he eyed her. She kept her hand in place.
"You don't want to injure yourself and get more angry than you already are." She warned.
Jack held his expression for a few beats before he closed his eyes and relented. He was asking for her help, her advice. He would follow it.
She lowered her hand. "Good." She turned, ascended the stairs and slipped through the kitchen.
Jack stepped away and aimed for the gym doors. Tetra scrambled and caught up to him.
"Jack." She pleaded. "Please talk to me."
He stopped and looked up at her. His face was some mix of anger and misery, dashed with determination.
His voice strained as he answered. "Tetra I, I can't talk right now." A pause. "I am doing my best to not yell and scream like I've done to you girls before." He faced back to the double doors ahead. "But I need to vent." He marched on and through.
The arachne stood there alone for a moment. I have to help him.
She took that thought and resolved to find another angle. She snapped her head toward the kitchen.
Sula seems to know what's going on...
Tetra clambered up the stairs and through the same doors as her roommate. She turned the corner from the kitchen and paused right outside her door. It opened a few moments later.
The lamia had changed from her usual t-shirt and jean skirt combo into an extra long black tank-top with sport bra and had corralled her long hair into a pony tail with a scrunchy. Black finger-less gloves with pads adorned her hands and she had a couple towels under one arm.
She arched an eyebrow at Tetra. "What?"
"I want to help."
Sula adjusted her grip on the towels and looked away toward the back of the house. "You want to help? Be there for him when he collapses."
Tetra's eyes widened in alarmed concern. "Collapses!?"
Sula spared an eye toward the arachne. "I've seen this before. It happens with the new husbands sometimes." She faced forward. "I've gotta go." She surged forward at a faster than usual pace.
Tetra started after her but stopped. She still wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do.
The temporarily claimed room at the far end opened and Isaac stepped out. "Oh hey." He waved at her. "You're back. Is Jack around?"
She sighed and plodded up to him. "Yes but...I don't think he wants to talk."
He furrowed his eyes. "What's wrong? Something go bad with the counselor?"
Tetra shook her head. "No it...he..." Isaac gave her a quizzical look at her hesitation.
She swallowed. "He confronted Marian."
His face didn't register anything at first. Then the name's significance elongated his features and he opened his mouth in a silent 'oh'.
He nodded lightly and his eyes unfocused. "Right. Her." He breathed out. "The one that almost killed him."
Tetra pleaded with her eyes and wrung her hands together. "He won't talk to me."
He narrowed his eyelids and glanced up. "Weren't you there with him?"
She folded her arms. "I've seen enough of her. I wasn't in the room."
He faced the wall and blinked a couple times. "He's been quiet?"
"Yes." She confirmed.
Isaac nodded lightly again a few times. "Dad."
The arachne rattled her head and gave him a thoroughly confused expression.
"Dad wouldn't be quiet when he was angry." He explained. "The man had almost no filter." His eyes narrowed with the memories he revisited. "We hated that about him. Jack especially. When he'd yell at mom about shit."
Tetra blinked. She hadn't heard the brother ever cuss before. She churned that little revelation in her mind a few moments to give her some perspective. "He doesn't want to be like his father."
Isaac nodded and smirked a little. "Exactly." He glanced up at her. "If he's not talking, it means he's not allowing himself to say whatever ugly things are going through his head. He doesn't want to snap and say something that would hurt someone else." He lifted a finger. "You're his girlfriend right?"
She rattled her head again at the seeming non-sequitur. "Uh, yes."
Isaac pressed his lips together in determination. "Then he really doesn't want to hurt you."
She squinted. "He's trying to protect me?"
Isaac nodded positively. "From himself."
Tetra's mind went back to that night in the warehouse. Holding Jack while the moon demanded that she ravage him. Feeling the want, the need, to throw him down, rip his clothes off and-
Tetra shut her eyes and shook her head. She was better than that. She wouldn't force anything on him...at least, not without his permission first, of course.
The thought blossomed a wry smile on her lips. Isaac mistook that for something else.
"He's kinda thoughtful like that..." He commented.
She rattled her head again. "Sorry, no..I..." She blinked. "Yes,yeah...that's...thoughtful."
He cocked his head. "You alright?"
She glanced down and reevaluated herself for a few moments. "I'm..better. Now that I understand." She turned toward him. "Thank you."
He shrugged. "Just looking out for him." He faced down the hallway. "Don't want him getting into the same situation I did."
She dipped her chin down. "You're taking about...Samantha." He spun back to her. "Aren't you?"
"How?" He scrutinized her face. "How did you know about that?"
The arachne kept her head down. "Jack told Sula. And she told me." She lifted her eyes at him mournfully. "I'm so sorry."
He blinked once and stared ahead. "Yeah well... things happen."
"No." She insisted. "Things don't 'just happen' Isaac." He looked at her askance. "There's always a reason for 'things.'" She shook her head a little. "We just don't always see it."
He wanted to protest, to counter her. She could see it in his eyes. But he starting nodding instead. "I don't know if I'll ever know." He faced up to her. "And that's the part that hurts the most I think." He grimaced and shrugged. "I mean yeah, her walking away is terrible and all." He breathed out. "But was it me? Or her? Or something else?" He shook his head a little. "Was it never meant to be?"
She stepped past him a few paces. "I don't know."
Down the far end of the hall another door opened and a certain harpy stepped out. She turned and waved at them.
"But you could always try again." Tetra kept her smirk forward so he couldn't see it.
Isaac squinted and glanced between the arachne and the harpy. "What...what do you...?"
Tetra kept walking forward. Syleris trotted up to her. "Hey you're back. Is Jack around?"
"I think he's busy in the gym with Sula." She replied.
"Oh." She nodded. "Doing that 'training' they keep talking about?"
Tetra nodded back. "Presumably."
The harpy hummed. "Alright. I can ask him something later." She turned toward Isaac. "Hey, you wanna race?"
He'd refused and begged off every other time she asked. But something that spider-woman said, told him he should do something different. "Ya know what?" He grinned. "Why not?"
Her eyes widened in excitement. "Really? You wanna do it?"
He pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah. Come on." He partially turned back to the other end of the hall. "I'll drive us to a sports equipment shop and get a bicycle." He grinned viciously. "Bill that to Jack too, while I'm at it."
Syleris giggled and caught up to him. "Hehe. Jack's right. I'm glad I don't have a brother." He snickered. "If all of them are like you."
Their laughter echoed and Tetra caught the last of it as she opened the doors to the gym.
Her host had his shoes and socks off and was huffing and bouncing on his toes around a heavy bag. Sula was practically in his face shouting 'encouragement'.
"C'mon pound that in there. Left right left right!" She drilled.
Jack smacked the bag with his padded fists following the pattern she instructed.
"High opening." She called.
He hooked a blow at head level. On a human his own height it would have struck the temple.
"Good." Sula commented. "Faster."
Their host laid into the unfortunate object with yelps and grunts and yowls. At one point he circled around and could clearly see Tetra. He might have taken notice, he might not have. She couldn't tell.
Sula, at least, gave her the courtesy with a nod.
The arachne kept all her eyes on the echidna and beckoned her over.
"Keep it up. Don't slow down." The trainer ordered before coming over. She slithered around to Tetra's side and kept Jack in her sight.
The arachne waved a hand toward their host. "What is this? Why are you pushing him so hard?" She studied Jack. His clothes were already getting damp. His face was slick. 'Sweating bullets' is the phrase she'd heard once. She thought she was seeing the meaning behind that metaphor right now.
Sula's golden eyes wavered for an instant. "He, he wanted it like this."
Tetra's eyes narrowed but she didn't object. "You said you've seen this before?"
Sula nodded once. "It happens to the newer husbands."
Tetra's jaw worked around. "I lived in a lamia town for three years remember? I'd never seen something like this."
Sula shook her head. "You weren't a member. They'd never let you." The arachne darted her gaze at the woman to her side. "No offense but...you were an outsider right?"
Tetra ground her teeth but still didn't object.
At the bag, Jack started to slow. His punches lost impact. "Keep it up." Sula bellowed in her trainer voice.
Tetra pressed her claws into her palm. "What. Is. this?" She hissed.
Sula raised her head. "It's fear."
She blinked. She comprehended it now. "The newer husbands... they see your people's aggressive side...and...it scares them."
The echidna swallowed. "Yes."
"They need something to...punish and hurt, to remind them they're in control." A beat. "But that's just an illusion. Isn't it?"
Sula nodded. "Yes. We call it self-defense training, but in reality there's no way even a physically perfect and fully experienced human fighter could ever beat an echidna unarmed."
Tetra narrowed her eyes again. "Then why bother training them at all?"
Sula gazed up at her. Her expression held expectation and confusion. "You're a huntress, you should know this." Tetra shook her head.
"What do you do when prey fights back?"
The arachne raised an eyebrow. "My prey never fight back. I don't let them. Things would get... messy. Bloody." A new concept teased at the edge of her thoughts.
"Exactly. If prey fights back, then something has gone wrong." Sula's tone dipped. "It means you, the predator, have made a mistake, you failed to account for something."
Tetra's eyes widened in realization. "Of course. The predator has to..rethink what they're doing. They...stop, for at least a moment."
Sula nodded firmly. "When we're getting intimate and my kind lose control, if we start treating them like prey all of a sudden..." Sula held her arms to herself. "And we're hurting them, the husbands can give us a good hard smack or two." Her eyes cast back to a not so distant memory. "The harder the better."
The arachne considered that scenario for a few moments more. "Couldn't that just piss off an echidna?"
Sula frowned grudgingly. "Yeah, but we're trained to stop and listen when a husband hits us. They'll only do that if they think they're in danger."
Tetra raised an eyebrow and side-eyed her. "Wouldn't a 'safe word' be more efficient?" She stressed the term.
Sula raised a hand. "Oh we got those too, sure. But that's for minor stuff like twisting an arm too much or squeezing too tightly." She waved that hand at Jack. "This for when the husbands think we're trying to bite them." She lowered her hand to her side and Tetra raised her chin in realization. "There's no meaningful recovery from our venom. We can't afford to train them with a measured response that might be ignored. It has to be a clear, impactful message to stop." She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "One sloppy nibble is all it takes."
Tetra considered the perils of human-echidna marriages. Then she focused back on Jack. He had slowed considerably. He wasn't punching so much as he was just weakly placing his fists on the bag. It barely swayed from the light strikes.
"It's good you're here." Sula commented. "He's almost out. Faster that I expected actually." She narrowed her eyes. "He's probably not fully recovered from being envenomed yet." She looked back up at her housemate. "This is a critical moment, and if you're not there to comfort him, it would have to be me." Tetra hummed positively. "And that might, send the wrong signal...again."
Tetra nodded. "I understand. Thank you." She considered something a moment. "You can stay if you want."
The echidna blinked and looked up. "What...what are you?"
Tetra casually waved toward their tiring host. "You're still really good friends with him right? Even after he turned us down?"
"I.." Sula started. "I probably shouldn't..." She tapped a claw on her knuckle nervously.
Tetra spared a meaningful glance at her housemate. "He was there for you wasn't he? When you were upset."
Sula stared up blankly. "He...he was...but I. I'm not."
Tetra righted her head forward. "This isn't about my status as his girlfriend." She inclined her head. "He just needs a friend." She emphasized. "I doubt he'll object to both of us being there for him."
Sula blinked a couple times and faced forward as well. "I...thank you."
Tetra poised herself. Ready to react when-
Jack's knees buckled. He started to lean into the bag for support.
And then she was there. Pedipalps and arms around him. Her chest braced his back. She gently drew him down to the ground. He panted and...cried. Tears leaked out and ran with the sweat on his face.
"It's alright Jack. I'm here." She cooed. "We're here." Sula came around and clasped one of his hands.
He sobbed. Rage had burnt through his stamina. All that was left was grief. "She..she..almost killed me. I didn't do anything to her. I never did a thing to her. I never even knew she existed. But she...she." He gripped the lamia's hand tightly.
"It's over Jack." His girlfriend murmured. "She's gone."
His head swayed. "She didn't even apologize."
Tetra's eyes were flint. "Is that really what you wanted from her?"
"Y-yeah," He blubbed. "She admitted s-she fucked up. And I- I gave her a chance to explain herself." He raised his other hand weakly. "How can you fuck up that badly and not apologize? How fucking arrogant do you have to be to..to..."
Tetra stroked her claws through his damp hair. "The world's not fair Jack. You know this." She held her other hand in his and squeezed. "We all know this." He let a out a shuddering breath.
The arachne shifted her bulk and pivoted him around so he could face her. Sula let go of his hand but started circling her tail around both of them.
"She's a monster Jack." Tetra stated.
Sula nodded in agreement. "Monsters don't apologize." He shut his eyes tight.
Tetra stroked his cheek and drew back a lock of hair. "But after all that horror you went through, you still gave her a chance Jack. You still treated her with more respect than she deserved." Her arm slid around and pulled his head in. She kissed his brow. "And as naive as that was, I love that about you."
He leaned in and sobbed himself out. They laid there together.
Finally the wracking sorrow abated and Jack could suck in a breath without shuddering.
He blinked a few times. Then snorted mirthlessly. "Didn't we already do this?"
Tetra cupped a palm under his chin and lifted it. "Trauma lingers Jack." Despite the massive difference in their biological make-up, (hell, he didn't even have the same amount that she had) he knew he was seeing the same anguish in her eyes as his were conveying to her. He glanced to the side and saw the same thing in Sula's golden slit eyes.
"But that's why we have each other to lean on. When the world's just too much." Tetra assured.
"That's right Jack." Sula pumped a fist. "We're both here for you."
He swallowed. "Yeah...Yeah. Thank you."
Tetra grinned. "You're quite welcome Jack."
He chuckled softly and wiped fresh tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry for worrying you." He dipped his head. "I knew that's what I was doing." He let out a breath. "I was so angry that I couldn't talk. I was afraid I'd snap and yell something hurtful at you. Something mean, that you didn't deserve."
Tetra laid a hand on his shoulder. "I understand Jack." She tightened her grip slightly. He looked back up at her. A new hurt settled into her expression. "But, you really couldn't say anything to me? Until now?"
He shut his eyes. "I'm sorry. Talking it out felt...weak, inadequate...useless." He grimaced.
The monstergirls glanced at each other. Then back to their host.
"You're not weak Jack." Sula insisted and tapped a claw on his chest. "People have strengths beyond physical...strength." She frowned. "Ugh, I'm not explaining this right." Jack glanced up at them.
"She means that we don't care that you couldn't defend yourself from Marian." Tetra stated. "That's not why we love you." She waved a hand around the whole gym. "That's not why we are all here."
Jack sucked in a breath. "Right. I'm..sorry." He placed a palm on his cheek. "I'm just feeling really out of it." He sighed. "This whole thing has really thrown stuff in my head around."
He paused and nodded lightly. "I used to have a nice, boring, steady life." He raised a hand. "Then all this happened and well..."
Tetra grinned and leaned forward. She gripped the back of his head and pressed her lips to his. She held them there a good long while.
Sula rolled her eyes but couldn't keep a small smirk out of the corner of her mouth.
Jack got a hand around Tetra's wrist and managed to break off. "What was...?"
The arachne snickered. "But it's all been worth it. Right Jack?"
He narrowed his eyes and pouted for a good three count. "Cheater."
Smug was too soft a term for her expression. Vain, pompous, or conceited perhaps? Definitely bordering on self-righteous.
"Ugh." Sula huffed and started unwrapping her tail. "Arachne have the biggest ego's on this planet, I swear." She shook her head and planted her hands at her hips. "Well Jack." He looked up at her. "As your trainer I'd have to give you a poor performance review today."
He chuckled despite himself.
She lifted a claw. "But don't worry. You keep training with me and you'll be tougher than you've ever been in your life."
Jack smiled and nodded. "I will Sula. Thank you."
The echidna folded her arms and straightened. "You're quite welcome, Jack."
Tetra's jaw dropped. She craned her head deliberately toward the line-stealing serpent.
Arachne may have big ego's, but the resident lamia was certainly giving her housemate a run for her money, with her own self-absorbed smile.
Jack covered his mouth and stifled a chuckle.
After a moment, Tetra narrowed her eyes and lifted a claw. "You will pay for that, snake."
Sula stuck her chin out. "Promises, promises spider" She pivoted, flipped her hair and slithered toward the gym's exit.
Tetra pouted at her the whole way. Jack tilted his head. "I thought you were flattered when I said that to you?"
She frowned and waved a hand in the air "It's the principle of the matter." She faced back to him. "If everyone uses it, then it loses it's potency."
He snorted and conceded the point with a nod. He gathered his legs under him. "Come on. I'm hungry now." She released her pedipalps and helped him stand up. "Let's get some lunch."
She sighed contently. She knew she didn't have to ask if he was better this time. "Yeah. Let's do that."
He led the way out of gym toward the kitchen.
A/N: Thanks for reading.
Yes I'm alive and still plugging away.
Sorry for the long delay. Life's a bitch, and some things got really bitchy for a couple months.
