Chapter 17

A couple months had passed since Angel's escape from Valentino and Ozzy could see that the spider was doing better. He wasn't as worn out and he was so good to the Queives and Oliver, who had begun to think of Angel like an uncle, to which the spider didn't mind and took his role of a fun-loving uncle quite seriously.

Fizz had actually caught Angel allowing Oliver to stay up past his bedtime a few times and let him have ice cream before dinner, but he also noticed that the spider only did the late bedtime on the weekends when Oliver didn't have school and he didn't let the boy have sweets before dinner too often.

Ozzy one time found Angel teaching Oliver how to care for a pet pig and the boy had listened intently. While the basics were the same for the pig and the Queives, there were a few other things needed to care for a pig. The two were giving Fat Nuggets a bath and the pig shook himself, causing water and soap suds to fly everywhere. The boy found it to be hilarious and laughed while Angel managed to get Fat Nuggets to hold still again and he chuckled. "Nuggy, hold still," he said in a firm, yet gentle voice.

Oliver had then helped the spider dry the pig off and giggled when Fat Nuggets decided to plop down and roll on the carpet, making both the spider and child laugh. Ozzy had to admit the pig was adorable and there were even times the rooster being would find Fat Nuggets asleep on the Queives bed with all nine Queives surrounding him. He had taken a picture and sent it to Angel, who thought it was the cutest thing ever.

"When I get my own place, I'm definitely going to see about getting a couple of Queives so that Nuggy has some friends," he said.

"We'll help you find a good place to get them," Fizz promised.

Angel was also helping around the palace too, either with cleaning or tidying up rooms. There was one sitting room that he had noticed was missing some color and he put in some suggestions to Ozzy and Fizz. "Not saying it doesn't look great, but it's kinda missing something," he said. "Something to make it...um...,"

"Like you want to sink into the couch cushions?" Ozzy supplied.

"Yeah, but also have an effect of making it...feel like home, I guess?"

Fizz pondered the suggestions Angel had written down. "Actually, Ozzy, these suggestions are pretty good," he said. "I've kind of felt the same way that something was missing, but wasn't sure what."

"Then we'll all work on it to make it feel like home to whoever sees it," Ozzy said.

Angel smiled. "No offense, Ozzy, but you don't want to have all these really nice living rooms that stand out and then have one drab one. Totally kills the vibe," he said.

A playful poke to his side made him squeak. "You saying my taste in décor is drab?" The rooster being asked playfully as he kept up the ticklish, gentle pokes, making Angel laugh and get up from his chair to escape the tickles.

"No," he said, managing to get his laughter mostly under control. "Just a friendly suggestion to make the room vibe with the others."

Being with Ozzy and Fizz had definitely brought Angel out of his shell and not be afraid to speak to them. He learned quick that Ozzy was a fair person and could be mischievous while Fizz was mischievous, but also no-nonsense.

The family even invited Angel to join them for movie night in Ozzy's room and the spider had been a bit hesitant at first, but Oliver gave him puppy eyes and he conceded, unable to say 'no' to his nephew. And the movie nights were fun and relaxing.

On one such night, Angel fell asleep during the movie and so had Oliver. Ozzy and Fizz took Oliver to bed and tucked him in before returning to their room, but neither had the heart to move Angel as he was sleeping peacefully. Ozzy gently adjusted the spider so that he was laying on the bed and not against the headboard and Fizz tucked him in before laying down on Angel's left side and Ozzy laid down on Angel's right side, the two falling asleep.

Angel woke up after a bit, seeing it was quiet and he saw Fizz and Ozzy were asleep. "Oops," he said softly before going to get up, but a hand on his shoulder made him pause and he saw Fizz was looking at him sleepily.

"It's okay," the jester said, his voice a bit rough, but soft. "Bad dream?"

The spider blinked in surprise. "How'd you guess?" He asked.

"You hugged yourself in your sleep," Fizz said. "I used to do that myself when I had nightmares."

"Oh," Angel said before sighing and rubbing his eyes. He felt a large hand on his other shoulder and saw it was Ozzy, who looked concerned.

"You okay, ragno?" He asked.

The spider smiled. Ozzy had taken to calling him that as an affectionate nickname and he honestly hadn't minded it. "I'm alright," he said. "Just...had a nightmare."

A glass of water came into his view and he saw Fizz was responsible for that. As he drank the water, Angel watched Ozzy fluff up the pillows for him again. "Aw, you guys are spoiling me," he said with a smile.

"You're our friend, Angel," Fizz said.

"Far be it from us to make you feel like we don't care," Ozzy said.

Angel smiled. "I know you guys care," he said. "You both have been really good to me and Oliver accepted me as his uncle. Al was right. Sometimes the family you choose is better than the ones you were born into."

Fizz smiled. "That's something I learned too," he said with a nod.

Ozzy smiled before he began humming softly, seeing both the jester and spider lay back down to go back to sleep. Angel noticed Ozzy's humming was soothing and he felt himself start to get sleepy again. Fizz was pretty much instantly asleep again and Angel felt a hand gently rub his back. "You're safe now, ragno," the rooster being said. "You can sleep easy."

Comforted, Angel fell back asleep, not stirring again until morning. Feeling the sun hit his eyes, he opened his eyes and yawned before seeing the door open and he sat up to see Oliver sneaking in. Seeing him, the boy quickly gestured for his uncle to not say anything before tiptoeing closer to the bed, climbing up carefully.

Angel had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Going to prank your dad and papa?" He asked in sign language.

The boy nodded and the spider being watched as the boy went over to his dad, carefully moving so that he didn't wake him. Even though his dad was a heavy sleeper, he didn't want him to wake up quite yet. As he looked around for something, he spied his papa's megahorn and went to get it, carefully climbing down from the bed.

Unfortunately, his foot got caught on the top of an air horn that was standing upright by the bed. A loud sound of a horn filled the room, making Oliver jump, but the reactions from the three on the bed were priceless.

Ozzy let out a yelp of surprise and jumped nearly a foot off the bed, coming back down on the mattress with a harsh 'thump!', his feathers and fur poofing up. Angel jumped from Ozzy's yell and Fizz let out a cry of surprise himself before both the jester and the spider were bounced off the bed from Ozzy landed down on it. Fizz got tangled up in the canopy above the bed and Angel was propelled off the bed since he had been sitting on his knees to watch Oliver's prank. The spider landed upside down on the plush chair nearby, thankfully not hurt.

Looking around and seeing his papa caught up in the canopy, his uncle upside down on the chair, and his dad with his fur and feathers poofed out, Oliver burst into giggles, unable to help himself.

Angel began laughing as he saw what his nephew was laughing at, unable to help himself too. "Well, things do look different upside down," he quipped as he did a handstand and then a back walk-over before standing up gracefully.

Ozzy's feathers and fur settled down and he looked up to see Fizz tangled up in the canopy and trying to get untangled. "Hold on, Froggie," he said, getting up and getting on his bathrobe before growing to a larger size so that he'd be tall enough to help his favorite jester.

Angel's eyes widened at seeing how tall he was. "Whoa, did not know you could do that," he said. "I was wondering why the ceilings were so high."

Ozzy chuckled before getting Fizz free and the jester chuckled, hugging the larger being as he shrunk back down to a more comfortable height. All three then turned to Oliver, who managed to stop giggling and looked a bit contrite. "Sorry, Dad. Sorry, Papa. Sorry, Uncle Angel," he signed. "I didn't expect the air horn to go off."

"Were you trying to prank us, Noodle?" Fizz asked.

Angel snickered, to which Ozzy looked at him. "You were in on it?" He asked, a playful smile coming to his face.

"Yes and no," Angel replied. "I woke up before he came in and he told me he was going to prank you two, but I don't think his prank involved the air horn."

The boy shook his head, but giggled again at remembering how funny the end result was.

Ozzy hummed before crouching down on all fours. "I think this little one needs to be 'punished' for pranking us," he said.

Angel and Fizz knew what Ozzy was driving at, as did Oliver, who looked ready to run as a large grin covered his face. "I'll help you out, Ozzy," the jester said with a grin.

Angel grinned. "I'll help too," he said before suddenly scooping up Oliver and running. "Helping my nephew escape!" He cackled as they zipped out of the room.

"Hey!" Fizz cried out, actually impressed with how fast the spider could run. He was about to leap after them when Ozzy scooped him up and placed him on his back.

"Hold on tight, Froggie," he said as he began chasing after the other two. Fizz held onto him, cackling as they ran after their son and friend.

Oliver was squealing with laughter and Angel was laughing too as he continued to run. "Know of any place we can hide, piccolo?" He asked the child.

The boy gestured to the elevator and Angel quickly took it, going up and following the boy's guidance to Ozzy's office. Checking to see the door was unlocked, which it was, Angel slipped inside with the boy still in his arms. Glancing around quickly, glad he could see in the dark, Angel found the perfect spot to hide and quickly moved, going up on a bookcase that had a decorative top that would hide the two perfectly. "Okay, fold yourself into a ball, kiddo," he whispered to him.

Oliver did so and Angel was beside him, both quietly giggling as they were sure the other two wouldn't find them so easliy.

Ozzy and Fizz had waited to see what floor the two would go to and quickly went to that floor once the elevator arrived again. "Now, where could our ragno and Noodle have gone off to?" Ozzy asked.

"We'll find them, big guy," Fizz said, grinning.

The two carefully hunted before seeing what looked like the carpet had been run over quickly right outside of Ozzy's office. Going inside, Ozzy turned on the light, but a quick look didn't reveal anything out of place.

Angel and Oliver immediately stilled at seeing the light come on, knowing the other two were in the room. Fizz glanced around until he spotted a tail sticking out from the top of the bookshelf. He looked up and grinned, tapping Ozzy's shoulder and gesturing to the bookshelf. Ozzy looked and then grinned before he towards the light, turning it off and opening the door, closing it firmly.

Angel waited a few moments before a sigh escaped him. "I think we tricked them, piccolo," he said before moving out of the hiding spot and reaching up to help Oliver down. The boy reached for him and hugged him before opening his eyes and seeing his dad's own glowing eyes gazing at him with a playful look.

Oliver jumped and tapped Angel's shoulder frantically. "What? What is it?" The spider asked before he suddenly sensed they weren't alone. "Ah, fudge biscuits!"

He sprang forward, but suddenly collided with something and heard Fizz's laughter. "Gotcha!" He said, his arms wrapping around both the spider and the child. The light came on and Angel saw that Ozzy had been behind them.

The rooster being came forward, his playful grin still in place. "Froggie, you get Noodle," he said, making goblin fingers. "The spider is mine."

Angel gulped nervously, a wobbly smile on his face as Oliver was gently plucked out of his arms. The boy began squealing with laughter as his papa began tickling him. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Fizz cooed to his son. "Mischievous little boys get a visit from the Tickle Monster!"

The spider couldn't help smiling at seeing the playful interaction before he jumped at feeling large hands on his waist. "Oh, boy," he said, swallowing nervously.

"I've got you, ragno," Ozzy said, but Angel noted that it was said gently, as if the rooster being picked up on his nervousness, which he most likely had. "I'm not upset about this morning."

The spider being nodded. "I know you're aren't, Ozzy," he said, smiling up at him. "I know you're not going to hurt me."

"Far from it," the larger being said before his fingers wiggled into Angel's sides, making him squeak in surprise and giggle, but when Ozzy began tickling Angel's shoulder blades, the spider lost his balance and began falling, to which large arms caught him. "Ragno, you okay?" Ozzy asked.

A large smile was on the spider's face. "Y-Yeah," he said, still giggling. "Guess my shoulder blades are a major weak spot."

"You okay with me continuing?"

Angel chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, go ahead," he said. He honestly didn't mind being tickled as both the jester and rooster being had gotten him a couple of times with a tickle torture, never being rough, but the two still asked occasionally if he was alright with it because they didn't want to overwhelm him, something the spider appreciated.

He now squealed as Ozzy tickled his shoulder blades again, almost collapsing to the floor, but the large and gentle arms of his captor didn't let him fall as he was tickled to pieces.

Oliver let out another high-pitched squeal as his papa began blowing raspberries into his neck. "Who's my ticklish little Noodle?" Fizz cooed playfully at his son, making the boy laugh harder.

Angel began to lose his breath and tapped Ozzy's arm. The rooster being at once let him up from the tickle torture and scooped him up into his arms to allow the spider to rest for a moment. "Angel, you alright?" He asked.

Angel nodded. "I'm good," he said, smiling and taking some deep breaths.

Smiling at his, Fizz let Oliver up and the boy giggled for a bit longer while hugging his papa, who hugged him back. "My silly little Noodle," he said affectionately.

"Hey, Fizz. I know I was laughing too hard at the time, but are you okay?" Angel asked him in concern. "You didn't pull a muscle or your limbs get damaged, right?"

"Nah, I'm alright," the jester said, smiling at the spider. "I'm used to doing acrobatics, but thanks for checking up on me."

"His limbs are durable and can withstand some strain," Ozzy said, smiling. "I made sure to give him the best so that he could do his tricks without the worry of the limbs not being able to hold him up."

Just then, the four heard the Queives and Fat Nuggets running into the room, looking happy. Fizz chuckled. "Better take them for a walk," he said, setting Oliver down and going to grab the Queives' leashes. Ozzy set Angel down and the spider got Fat Nugget's leash too.

"Oliver, can you get the table set?" Ozzy asked with a smile. "I'll get started on breakfast."

Less than an hour later, they were all enjoying a wonderful breakfast and Angel smiled. "Hey, Ozzy, can you teach me how to cook?" He asked. "Not that I'm complaining about your cooking, but I want to know how so I can cook sometime."

The rooster smiled. "I'll gladly teach you," he promised.

The spider smiled again, glad that he knew the rooster and the jester and their son and had them as his friends and family.

Translations: Ragno means 'spider' in Italian. Ozzy calls Angel this in brotherly affection.

Piccolo means 'little one'. Angel calls Oliver this as an affectionate nickname for his nephew.

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