XLI

Arriving home, Eleven runs upstairs. She doesn't call for Henry—she knows he must be in the attic, a haven from a past life. So she continues her run until she gets to him.

With a bang, she opens the door: "Henry!"

Sitting in front of a counter, a stack of candles burning over it, Henry turns to her.

Between his hands walks a black widow.

Eleven stands paralyzed.

"Eleven," Henry greets her with a smile, unmoving. "Give me a minute." With great care he returns the arachnid to its terrarium located on the counter. "There you are." With no hurry, he stands up, his gaze fixed on her again. "Is there something wrong?"

Shocked as she is, she only thinks of mentioning what she has just witnessed: "I didn't know you still have… spiders."

"Hm." Henry walks slowly toward her. "I keep them in the attic so they don't scare you. I usually come to spend time with them when you're at school. Sometimes, like today, I lose track of time. For that, I apologize."

But she is not interested in his apology: "Can I… see them?" she asks, her voice tinged with curiosity. From Henry's expression, she knows that her request has taken him by surprise. "Only… if you want…" she adds, aware that it might be too personal for him and that he'd rather keep it that way.

"Oh. Yes, of course you can." His smile returns instantly. "Come here."

He returns to sit in front of the table, on a long cushion that he has arranged for greater comfort; he pats the area his body doesn't occupy to invite her to take a seat next to him. She wordlessly obeys.

"You can look, but don't open the lid of the terrarium. Don't move it too much, either. Put yourself in her place; you wouldn't want to be shaken by a being much bigger than yourself, would you now?"

It may sound strange to anyone but her, yet his voice when talking about his spiders is full of affection, and it comforts her. "I'll be careful," she promises solemnly.

She tries to get a closer look: the spider is a deep black except for a red spot on its belly.

"Looks like… an hourglass," Eleven says, unable to hide the fascination in her voice.

"It's a characteristic mark of these spiders," Henry explains, resting his hands on his crossed legs. "It is a way to warn their predators of their powerful venom."

"Something like… 'Don't mess with me'…?"

"Exactly like that," Henry agrees, and Eleven, who doesn't take her eyes off the arachnid, hears the smile in his voice. "In nature, it is common for animals to have developed ways to camouflage, that is, to hide from their predators by using colors that are dark or blend in with their surroundings.

"So… if a predator sees that this little one here has the equivalent of a huge 'look at me' sign… Well, it makes them think twice, don't you agree?"

Eleven nods and turns to look at him: his smile is colossal. After living with him for five years, Eleven knows firsthand how rare it is to see him excited like this.

"Would you like… to touch it?" Henry asks suddenly, in a whisper, as if he were afraid of her answer.

A feeling that Eleven remembers from this morning.

"Nice to meet you," she murmurs, because she's afraid her voice will crack if she speaks louder, "Max."

She doesn't even have to think about it to answer: "Yes."

Henry clenches and unclenches his fists a couple of times—as if he's trying to get rid of a nervous energy of inexplicable origin—before carefully lifting the terrarium lid; next, he puts a hand inside it; as if it understood him, the spider slips into his hand without a hint of hesitation. Once he has withdrawn his hand, he closes the lid again.

"Don't be afraid," Henry says softly. "She won't attack you if you show her respect. Now, follow my lead."

Eleven nods to show her understanding and, just like Henry does, extends both hands, palms up. He, for his part, rests his fingers at the height of the nails on the tips of Eleven's fingers: in a matter of seconds, the spider adapts to the stability they have given it and passes from his hands to Eleven's.

"How is it?" Eleven, who doesn't take her eyes off the tiny arachnid, feels Henry's gaze fixed on her, measuring her reaction.

"It's…" The girl stops and presses her lips tightly as the spider slides from her right hand to her left.

"Don't be afraid of her," Henry reminds her, and Eleven doesn't know if she's imagining the pleading tone in his voice. "She won't hurt you."

"N-no," Eleven stutters, noting from her peripheral vision how Henry's shoulders tense. "It's not… that," she manages to explain.

"No?" His tone is one of alarm, and Eleven knows she must clear it up for him as soon as possible. "What is it then?"

With a superhuman effort, she turns her gaze away from the black widow to meet his eyes.

What she sees there disarms her for a moment: fear. Nerves. And… maybe, hope?

"Henry," Eleven exhales, "her little legs."

He frowns. "Yes?"

"Her little legs… they… tickle."

And, unable to hold back any longer, she starts laughing. Her entire body vibrates with the effort to stifle her laughter as much as possible, so as not to frighten the spider in her hands.

In front of her, Henry seems to melt. Or that's the impression she gets from the way his shoulders relax and his whole face seems to soften.

"They tickle," he repeats in a choked voice. "The black widow's legs… they tickle you."

"Yes…"

A pause. Silence. And then…

"I should have expected it," Henry sighs, but he doesn't sound frustrated or annoyed, just relieved. "From you, I should have expected it. Maybe you have another ability that no one else has ever noticed."

Eleven frowns and looks back at the spider, which seems extremely comfortable in her fingers.

"Yeah…? Which one?"

"The ability to tame dangerous beings."

Not even she misses the subtext of his words. She looks up and sees the sincere affection that shines in his eyes.

She would like to think that it's not just towards the spider.

"More than… tame…" Eleven replies, "I like to believe… that I'm trying to understand."

But he is wrong, possibly: it is he who has tamed her.

There is no other way to explain the feeling of the air leaving her lungs when she catches a glimpse of the smile Henry gives her at that moment.