2020-10-26: Along came a Spider at the Dead Mall

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Along came a Spider[1] at the Dead Mall
Parker finds an enclave of Bone Gnawers and their allies
IC Date October 26, 2020
IC Time morning
Players Acacia, Alessio, Jaycob, Parker and Pepper
Location Dead Mall

It is partly cloudy as the morning sun comes into view across the eastern horizon. The rundown part of town is slowly 'waking up', though it is the crackheads and homeless that start to appear on the streets rather than the morning commuters in other parts of town.

The Dead Mall is as described. Dead. The parking lot is near empty save for the lone figure of Pepper who is sitting cross-legged on the concrete. The waif's form is absolutely engulfed in an oversized, matted, fake fur coat and her gray-blue eyes are trained on the chain-link fence that separates the mall grounds from the city proper. A brown paper bag rests next to her, courtesy of the nearest fast food restaurant that 'Now Serves Breakfast 24/7!' and the wiry blonde reaches inside and withdraws a wrapped breakfast sandwich.

Parker, deciding to explore another part of Prospect, has chosen to drive out to the western edge of the city and parked her bike outside St. Benedict's.

As she is want to do she left her phone locked in the bike and found a discrete place to 'change' and, as a large mass of spiders, she has been exploring eastward from there. Finding an abandoned mall a few miles away the spread out mass re-directs towards it and enters the parking lot by creeping under the fence. While Eyes-in-the-Dark is a massive amount of spiders she has herself spread out so that while a perceptive observer might notice her most 'average people' would at best notice one or two without really focusing. Spread out thusly and from her at the ground perspective she doesn't notice the one person in the area yet herself either.

Pepper's fingers work to carefully unwrap her breakfast sandwich while those grey-blue eyes retain their blank stare at the street outside. The woman with the wiry blonde hair hasn't noticed the numerous creepy crawlers, yet. The parking lot is a big place and she's distracted by her food. Pepper bites into the sandwich and chews with her mouth open.

Eyes-in-the-Dark is eating as she goes: ants, beetles, other small insects encountered as she traversed the many blocks between here and her bike and even as she's entering the nearly empty parking lot. As parts of her get close to the lone figure the scent of the breakfast sandwich is noticed and a few of the nearest drones are directed by the nearest leader to approach while the rest of the clutter of arachnids spreads out further, some approaching the guard shack while others examining the cracks in the lot while others still begin to move past Pepper's location without getting closer than a half-dozen yards - that distance is only broached by four tiny spiders and one with a leg span of about an inch.

Mouthfuls of cholesterol-laden breakfast sandwich is swallowed, one after the other, by Pepper who quickly refills her hand with another sandwich from the bag when the first one is finished. Maybe that fur coat is disguising a really large breakfast belly? Either way, gray-blue eyes remain fixed on the street until the slightest hint of movement catches her eye. Pepper tilts her head to one side and spots the larger spider among the group that approaches and she watches it intently, hand positioning breakfast sandwich in front of mouth for biting.

Seeing that her drone has been noticed, Eyes-in-the-Dark's general exploration stops and the more distant portions start being more cautious in their motion. Slowly, those portions begin to move to encircle the young woman that is examining the drone which starts to scurry away from Pepper acting like any other spider spooked by the approach of a person. In the mean time, two of the smaller spiders attempt to close the distance between themselves and the sandwich carrying girl. 

Pepper activated the Heightened Senses gift at this point and it remained active for the rest of the scene.

Pepper's eyes narrow as the original spider scurries off, then widen. The blonde gathers her breakfast bag and quickly clambers to her feet. Those gray-blue eyes shift this way and that way before they hone in on the two smaller spiders on the approach.

"Stop." the wiry blonde commands in a high-pitched voice that is relatively firm. Pepper keeps her eyes trained on the two arachnids even as she tilts her chin up and sniffs at the air. "Reveal." She calls out across the parking lot, though not loud enough to reach the street. "Now."

The approaching spiders stop, a few inches away from Pepper's feet. The fleeing spider also stops and rotates so it is facing her. The rest of the mass slows but continues to move so that it is now in a crescent shape with Pepper in the center of the gap as Eyes-in-the-Dark is attempting to encircle this strange girl who is not reacting like girls usually do to spiders.

Off at the edge of what Eyes assumes is the girl's peripheral vision, one of the larger leaders, with a leg span of a few inches, has a number of drones approach it and they merge into a larger spider - a Goliath Birdeater with a body length of nearly five inches ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_birdeater'). 

Pepper used Scent of the True Form successfully as part of this pose.

Parker's Awareness check failed so she was not aware before the words were said.

Pepper doesn't stomp on the spiders that rest near her feet, even though the urge to do so would be perfectly normal, right? Instead, the blonde looks beyond them toward the edge of the parking lot, then back toward the condemned mall building behind her. She catches sight of the goliath bird-eater just as it is finishing it's merging and her eyes widen again in a mix of surprise and curiosity.

Pepper sniffs at the air again and shakes her head. "Weaver." The word is mumbled to herself, then she is falling into motion. The woman takes care to not step on any eight-legged critters as she begins to approach the larger goliath. "You. I SEE YOU." There's a clumsiness to the cadence of speech, like her delivery is offering individual words or sentences rather than fluid paragraphs. "Who?!" Still ever careful to not step on any spiders that don't scurry from her path...

Having been seen and clearly identified, Eyes-in-the-Dark begins to quickly gather herself into clumps of spiders and then, more slowly, bringing them together.

While the clumps are closing the distance the clump centered around the Goliath ripples as spiders merge with that spider, one of Eyes' leaders and, disturbingly (and Delirium Inducing not that it would affect Pepper), a semi-human mouth appears on the back of its abdomen.

The mouth moves and a human-ish voice comes out of it saying, "Eyes-in-the-Dark," while the spider keeps its eyes on Pepper to see her reaction to the change and the voice.

The blonde Garou's expression, while normally devoid of any real emotion besides semi-impatience, actually betrays a hint of fascination as she watches the change. "Seeks-the-Balance." Pepper slowly crouches down and points a bony finger at the growing clump. "Why you here? Kin here. Families. Spy? Enemy?"

The clumps of spiders are now all in the same arc of vision from Pepper but not yet mingling with each other. The mouth on the Goliath speaks again, its group having moved slightly closer to the young Philodox so as not to have to speak quite as loudly. "Exploring," the female-sounding voice says. "Enemy or friend would require knowing." It then asks, "Who is Seeks-the-Balance?"

"Me." Pepper answers quickly. The paper breakfast bag crinckles as the woman tightens her fingers around it. "Wolf born. Lupus. Philodox. Cliath of Bone Gnawer Tribe. This..." the blonde gestures around her, "...Bone Gnawer place." Gray-blue eyes scan the arc of spiders before settling on the larger clump yet again. "Children here. I protect."

The clumps are now so close that they are merging, sometimes there are spiders crawling upon each other, weaving about as if in a dance - quite clearly not any spiraling motions! - and there are a few events of merging so that there are now more than two Goliaths in the mass but with the constant movement the exact count of the larger spiders is hard to keep track.

"You," the voice says with a grim chuckle. "Yes, that was clear half-moon, but language is hard sometimes for those of us born in the Wyld." There's a pause and the voice says, "Spider-born, arachnid. Secean, Tenere Myrmidon." After another pause the voice says, "Meant no trespass, exploring Prospect, found this place like finding any other. No interested in your pups, whether on two or four. Mother or just nanny, Seeks-the-Balance?"

"Security." is Pepper's quiet little reply. She keeps her gaze focused on the clump of spiders with the same air of wonder that a child would have when seeing an airplane take off for the first time, or something else similarly wonderful. The introduction seems to please her and she rises from the crouch again. "Never met before. Weaver's child. Heard tales. Not many left. Your kind."

An inward smile is not reflected by the mouth, despite Eyes' greater range of emotions then is typical of her kind. Instead, her voice replies by saying, "We shall not address the reasons for that right now, keep the conversation cordial," thus implying without making it explicit that this is ironic coming from the specific source that it is. "All Ovid suffer from past transgressions, perhaps there are steps to take to bring things back into.... balance?" The pause and inflection on the last word are intended to put what could be an offering gesture into the spoken words despite the speaker's only motion are mouth motions and the continued convulsive ambulation of the mass' component critters.

"Balance." Pepper repeats the word slowly. "Balance. Balance." As if testing it's taste on her lips. "Must seek it in all things." Her gaze remains trained on the clump while she raises a boney finger toward the far corner of the lot, a spot that is not visible from the street. "Speak there. Eyes won't see."

The mass as a whole moves towards the indicated location while within the mass the almost pure Brownian movement of the spiders within the mass continue whlie some pass under or over others but at no point is any spider that is unable to bear the weight stepped on by another.

"Guard duty, not typical of your Auspice, or do I misunderstand the roles amongst your kind?" the voice states with an inquiry.

"Watch after one another. Everyone responsible." Pepper walks behind the shuffling mass so she can keep it all in view. "Hash brown?" She asks as she retrieves one from the bag and tosses it onto the concrete. "Danger everywhere. Wyrm corruption doesn't care if kinfolk. Young."

"Incomparable with this form," Eyes' voice replies to the offer. The spiders continue to move within the mass while the speech occurs, every now and then a spider walks along the moving lips but never once tries to cross them while the Ananasi speaks. "You have shared secrets, some simply due to my encroachment into your territory so if it is alright I will shift into my human form, Seeks-the-Balance?" Eyes' voice asks.

"Do it." Pepper's tone is bland and dry, though lacks any real sense of 'command' despite the words themselves. The breakfast bag is set no the ground and the woman wipes her palms on the matted fur of her coat.

Spiders begin to merge randomly and the mass piles up higher and taller as it becomes less and less a pile of creatures and more of a single being. Quickly there is a woman standing there wearing a torque around her neck and nothing else but some spiders crawling on her. Some of the spiders enter into the woman's body thought the skin without leaving any sign of injury. Other spiders, tiny empyreal ones seemingly emerge from the jewelry about the woman's neck and swiftly weave clothing onto her so that in moments she is dressed in gray, crushed velvet tights, a black mini-skirt, a black sports bra and a nearly transparent, gauzy white, renaissance style shirt.

The woman, Eyes-in-the-Dark (or Parker depending on how one knows her) steps out of the lee of the shack and slowly approaches Pepper. She reaches out slowly for the offered hash brown and says, "Thank you," iin a voice that is almost exactly like the one that had emanated from the mouth on the spider.

Pepper's brows knit in curious confusion as she watches spiders crawl into flesh, spiders connect and merge into clothing, and spiders otherwise turn into a human woman. The 'Thank you' receives no acknowledgement. Instead, Pepper offers in a low, monotonic mumble, "Notattackingyou." and steps close. She holds one hand out well ahead of her, projecting well ahead of time that she aims to touch the hem of the Ananasi's mini-skirt. "Cool trick. Spiders."

Parker softly says, "I know you aren't attacking me." She smiles awkwardly and says, "But thank you for saying so." Reaching up to touch the torque at her neck with the hand that isn't still extended for the offered hash brown she says, "Its a Fylfot, what you would call a Fetish." She quickly adds, "It is ours by right of helping make it and by rite of bonding as well," as if she fears the Garou might try to claim it.

Acacia comes out from inside the building and she has a large basket, like one of those picnic basket things. By the way she's carrying it, it looks heavy. She calls out, her voice rather delicate, despite her rather Gothic, rough looking appearance. "Hey. New people. Food and drinks. Come on up here. No need to lurk where people can see you." There are a couple of picnic tables up near the building and this is where she stops, setting the basket down and pulling it open.

Lonely, isolated locations spread out throughout the world, especially ones that are known to be safe by force of RAWR! make for exceptionally great places to set something up. Which for Jaycob, it seems, means bringing an easel stand with him, adjusted for his low height, as well as a canvas and a backpack slung over his shoulders. Spying the gathering of kin and shifters alike, he smiles softly, his lips possessing a nearly natural pout to them as he does. Particularly, the smile is granted more for Pepper, as well as a playful wink as he slowly begins to set up the easel and canvas.

Pepper and Parker are standing at the far edge of the parking lot, in a corner spot that is impossible to see from the chain-link fence or street beyond. The blonde in the fake fur coat is currently reaching out to touch the other woman's mini-skirt, gaze and expression showing a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

Pepper withdraws her hand after a moment and backs away to put more distance between the two again. "Fylfot. Fetish. I know both words." As if it is somehow appropriate, the wiry blonde gives her fur coat a little tug, "Furcoat. Human fashion. Mine by right of paying. Fifteen dollars at ThriftZone." Acacia's voice draws a tilt of the head from the blonde lupus. "Apples. Cheese and meat sandwiches." Her heightened senses are still active, as no normal human could smell the basket's contents from there.

Pepper states matter-of-factly. "Come. Introduce." and then turns and heads toward Acacia.

Parker, barefoot and otherwise dressed stylishly in a translucent white ren-shirt over a black bra and miniskirt with gray velvet tights, follows Pepper towards the other woman. On hearing noises behind her she looks nervously in Jaycob's direction. As they walk towards Arcadia she says, "Understood," about Pepper's coat. "Odd seeing your kind wearing another's fur however," she comments and says, "Sounds like a good lunch."

Taking Pepper's last word as an instruction Parker says, "I am called Eyes-in-the-Dark. Spider-born Ananasi, Secean," to the other woman. She then adds, "Found this place by accident while exploring the city. No trespass intended and have no intentions against you and yours," as if she feels this to be important information.

Fruit, sure, maybe not of the highest quality and freshness, but not rotting. And the stuff in the basket is piping hot and smells of COOKED meat. Good stuff. Tortillas in a warmer are set down and then a large tray of something covered in tinfoil that will turn out to be fajita meat. And a divided tray of sides and toppings. "Sit down. Lunch just finished inside, so I stole some to bring out here. INtroductions would be good, but let's all sit and eat." Her gaze touches each person, studying them, but without judgement. "I'll start. Acacia Evans, Gnawer kin. I run this place." She nods to Parker. "If you found it, then it's because you were supposed to. There are wards on here against people who shouldn't be."

Meanwhile, while the ladies chat and provide their introductions, Jaycob settles his backpack down nearby, and arranges the canvas more center on the easel. Then he bends back down to unzip the backpack and slowly begin to pull out and arrange at the base of the easel, some watercolor paints, as well as a variety of different brushes, and a pot of clean water. As Parker looks his way, his lips curl into a soft, still somewhat pouty-by-nature smile for her, but otherwise... Unless directly spoken to, he begins to apply gentle strokes of color to the canvas.

If it is appropriate to let the guests take the first picking, Pepper doesn't seem to know or care. The wiry blonde in the fake fur coat shuffles right up to the basket and begins to take her pick. "Acacia." She says slowly, as if testing the taste of the word. "Acacia." Jaycob's arrival is noted and Pepper indicates him with a thumb before mumbling blandly to Acacia, "Hearthrob. Like in magazines."

There's a gathering in the parking lot of the Dead Mall. Parker, a new commer, is tressed in stylish clothing but is barefoot and is in the company of Acacia and Pepper while Jaycob is nearby as well. Food, fruits, tortillas and fajita meat are set out on the picknic table. The women are talking with each other while the Black Fury kin is painting on a canvas set up on an easel.

"Nothing kept me from arriving so it must be okay as you say, Acacia," she says to the other dark haired woman. "I just... wanted to be sure my intent was clear. I am new to the city and am attempting to learn its environs."

Acacia has already eaten. This is for guests. And there's plenty for everyone. Her eyes tic over to Jaycob and she nods, but says to Pepper, not QUITE quietly, "Well, if he doesn't introduce himself, I can only assume that he's either a: an infiltrator sent here by the Wyrm itself to murder us all with his..." She flops a hand about. "... paint stuff. Or he's just an asshole who has no manners. Or.." She holds up a finger. "Or...... He lost his tongue in a fight and can't speak and he's actually the hero that we didn't know we needed." Then she glances over at Jaycob a little more studiously. "Hey, Van Gogh, you got a name?" Parker gets a more or less friendly nod. "If you're not hostile and you're part of the shifters in sme manner, you're welcome here. There's room for everyone.

Enter Alessio. For the most part, a very nonedescript person that, despite trying to look like he could be just about anyone on the streets, looks like he is not just about anyone on the streets. A jacket, held open, does little to hide a set of large guns at his sides. He's also toting about a sledgehammer in a strap, resting over his shoulder, which also does not quite make him not stand out. Reaching the parking lot, he comes to a stop to glance out over the area. People. People are squinted at. This would be Patrol-Mode Alessio, making sure the area is not under attack from the evil presence of friendly people!

When Pepper continues to name him Hearthrob, Jaycob's lips curl into a more amused smile for her. When Acacia discusses him though, he sweeps his gaze towards her, peeling it away from the slow, gentle strokes of watercolor he applies to the canvas. "Hm?" He hums thoughtfully. "Oh, sorry. Jaycob, Black Furies kin." He offers softly, his lips curling more warmly, and with more amusement. "Or, Hearthrob works just fine, if you'd prefer." Generally, he keeps his gaze locked on the canvas in front of him, his lips curled in that ever lingering, warm smile of his as he goes, but he can at least pay enough attention to the conversation to keep up with it, peeking back at the ladies as they speak, and stealing a glance at Alessio as he arrives as well.

Pepper finishes fixing her plate and moves over to stand beside Acacia, as if she were somehow second in command of the food brigade. Alessio's entrance draws a blank stare from the almost-always-blank-faced woman. Jaycob's use of her nickname for him earns him an equally blank look, too. "Van Gogh." Pepper mutters quietly. "Sarcasm. Funny."

Having been invited to do so and waiting her turn after Pepper, Parker sets up a plate with some fruit and a pseudo-burrito filled with fajita meat.

Parker says, "Thank you," to Acacia and chuckles only /after/ the Philadox identifies the joke as being a joke. She nods to Jaycob and then to the newly arrived Alessio, the latter being acknowledged as an incoming presence. That said, the incoming presence has an additional effect on the Ananasi as she becomes ever so slightly more tense.

Pepper senses “Parker's body tensed nervously as the numbers grew and she took a quiet breath to calm herself that your Gnosis-enhanced senses allow you to detect.”

Acacia doesn't even have to look. She knows when ALessio is around. "This is Alessio, Doubletap, Adren of the Glasswalkers. He lives here. He's security detail." THEN she glances over her shoulder and sends a brief wink his direction. She doesn't offer him food. She knows he isn't going to eat when he's working. "This is Eyes-in-the-Dark. She's an Ananasi, this is Pepper that I've mentioned - Gnawer Cliath. And that's Jaycob, Black Fury kin." Like she knew ALL of this already. Totally.

Having squinted enough for a few moments, Alessio then detaches from the exit he came from, starting to walk out from the shadow of the Mall to head out to the people on the parking lot. Coming close enough to greet and be greeted, he looks to Acacia and nods once, "I see. New people, then. Well, except for Pepper. I think I've heard her name mentioned here and there." his voice is rough and somewhat grumpy. Typical ahroun! "Ananananasi?" he pauses, "Ana.. eh, spider folk, eh?" he eyes her a bit, "Well.. why not." he looks to Jaycob, "You log all that out here?" he wonders, looking at the easel and canvas.

The smile bore on his features grows even brighter still as Pepper renames him Van Gogh, something that doesn't exactly seem to bother Jaycob as he continues to brush the watercolor onto the canvas, which he seems to have laid out into a landscape view. For anyone who might be paying attention to him, his hand seems to be moving in more square and box shaped motions, indicating he might be painting buildings, perhaps?

"Unfortunately, yes." He answers easily towards Alessio, without ever really looking towards the man. His gaze mostly sweeps between the view in front of him, and the canvas he is working on. "You get used to carrying it all around with you though, after a while."

Pepper lifts her hand when her name is mentioned but otherwise uses it to shovel fajita meat into her mouth. When she speaks, it's obviously with a mouthful of food because why manners? "Hullo." Grey-blue eyes shift from Alessio to Parker and the latter receives a blank little stare for a beat or two before that gaze is moving on to Jaycob. "Show me." She all but commands him, pointing a hand full of food toward the easel.

"Yes, spider-folk," Parker says to the Ahroun before taking a bite of her pseudo burrito. After swallowing she says, "Ananasi," to help him with the pronunciation and adds, "I am Secean, Myrmidon of the Tenere faction," for her fellow warrior's benefit even though he is not specifically speaking with her anymore.

Acacia steps back a little so she's a little closer to Alessio and nods to Parker. "I know just a very little about Ananasi. Could you break that down for us? I'm guessing one of those equates to tribe and the other to an auspice of some sort, and another is your rank, but I know you guys do things a little differently." She looks over to see what Jaycob is drawing and hands Pepper a napkin.

Alessio turns his eyes over to Parker, "Well. Apart from having heard of you, you're the first spider-folk I meet. At least that I know of. I'll try to not hold any old stories against you." he grins widely, to then look to Acacia whom is drawing nearer, "Although, I'd be careful about this girl." he says, "She might try to kill you with over feeding." Its like his grump disappeared and now he's out to try to be funny instead. Funny Ahrouns. Novel idea.

When Pepper commands him to show his work, Jaycob's lips curl into a brighter smile for her, bearing those nearly pouty curl as he bobs his head softly back at her. "Sure." He offers softly and very carefully begins to shift around the easel for everyone else to see that half finished painting. Quite simply, the painting is of the Dead Mall, mostly in shades of blue and grey, with some smatterings of green, bearing incredible attention to detail. Though once he has shown the painting to the rest of the class briefly, he carefully begins to rotate his easel back into place, delicately making sure to have the same position as he had it before he had shown it off. "Over feeding. Not a bad way to go, honestly."

As she was mid-bite when Acacia made her request, Parker finishes it and then addresses the kinfolk hostess. "We do not name our ranks nor do we divide ourselves into tribes. We have factions and as stated mine is Tenere. Aspects are similar to auspices and mine, Myrmidon, is just what it sounds like if you recognize the word from which ever man-tongue the word was taken from. Secean means a Myrmidon of the Tenere faction."

Pepper just blink-blinks at the easel before she turns her back on it. Acacia's napkin is snatched with a quickly mumbled, "Thankyouverymuch.", and then the wiry blonde is moving in to claim a second helping of food. Gray-blue eyes settle back on Parker as she stares dumbly as she listens to the woman. "Myrmidon. Like Troy." To Alessio, "Achilles. Pepper knows! Pepper saw movie."

Acacia glances up and over at Alessio and makes a grumpy face his way. "Do not make me assault you with a tortilla," she tells him, deadpan. She takes one more step back to come level with him and gives him a little friendly pat on the butt, but without blocking his access to his guns or his hammer. (rawr?) That comes from a lot.. a LOT of time being around the big beefy Ahroun. "Hey, that's pretty good. Like, that's really good. Finish up so you can eat, Van Gogh." To Parker, she grins and chuckles quietly. "So when I hear Myrmidon, the definition that pops to my head is a minion of some bad dude who carries out orders without question. Nazis. But I'm also not well-read, so I'm guessing there's a different definition, but cool. Thank you."

"It is?" Alessio says, looking to Pepper, "Never saw it. Myrmidon sounds like some sort of creature. Had I not known now, I'd have said some sort of seat monster. Warrior, then." he eyes Parker a bit more to that, in the manner one Warrior would another Warrior. With Acacia near him, he moves his right arm around her upper body, pulling her closer as he leans his head in to smooch the top of her head. And then he lets her go. Eyes goes to Jaycob, "Flashy." he grins at the man, "Just don't go sell that off. We're supposed to be a secret, here." he coughs, "I think." he looks to Acacia, "Right?"

Parker frowns, as if the meat she's chewing on has suddenly soured. She does something in her mouth and after a few more moments seems to be swallowing fluids rather than the half-chewed solids that those watching would 'know' were there. "No, not like Nazis," she says, as she's obviously heard something about them. "Pepper's reference was more on point," and then she smiles at Alessio, "Yes, we are the warriors of the Ananasi as the Ahroun are for the Garou."

Pepper's reaction to his painting it noted, Jaycob seeming nonplussed about not impressing her with his art, though his lips curl brighter towards Alessio and Acacia as they both seem to react to his artwork. "I don't think I have to sell this one off, no." He muses openly as he continues to make gentle strokes along the canvas, and then he politely nods back at Acacia as she mentions him finishing up so he can eat. "Honestly, I'd completely forgotten about food until you brought food around. I've been wanting to find a good place to paint all day, until I finally remembered about this place."

Acacia chuckles at Parker. "Sorry. I didn't mean it that way. That was just the definition I knew. If I thought you were actually a nazi, I'd have taken your fajita away. I'm kinda mean like that and I'm sorry." SHe smiles at Alessio's smooch and starts to load up a tortilla for Jaycob. "Alessio and Pepper's definitions make much more sense."

Pepper falls silent for the time being and she uses that time to finish that second helping. Mouth and fingers are wiped clean with the napkin Acacia offered earlier. At both Parker and Acacia's mentioning, the blonde perks up a touch. "Smart. Brainiac." A boney finger rises to her own temple, "Lots of meat in this treat. Need cleanup? Help?"

Parker asks Acacia, in complete seriousness, "Why are you sorry?" and then says, "If I were a nazi I would deserve the worst you could give me as I would be a threat to you and yours," before putting the last of her pseudo-burrito into her mouth, a fairly large bite actually but after a few moments of chewing she ends up swallowing it, again almost more like drinking a mouthful of liquid rather than the solid food she'd had in her mouth moments before.

Alessio turns his eyes to Pepper, regarding her a few moments before he gives a quick nod, "Smarter than me, at least. Although, thats not always saying a lot." he turns his eyes to Parker, "Suppose I should not tell you to be careful where you tread in this town, but I'll say it anyhow. Spider-folk have a fair bit of a weird reputation in our stories. If I had been raised by the tribe when it actually counted, I might have taken to holding my gun and not give you the benefit of a doubt." his eyes then goes to Jaycob, "Well, you found a place to pain and a place to get food. I'd suggest you grab some. It tends to go away quick. Lots of hungry people to clean up the leftovers in there." he hikes a thumb to the Mall.

Slow and methodical in his work, Jaycob might not even notice that Acacia is preparing food for him, or if he saw her preparing food... He might presume she is getting seconds, or thirds. Whatever count she is at. Though he does peek towards Alessio and nod his head softly at the other man, but he doesn't move to part from his work, the slow, gentle strokes to the developing scene seeming to steal most of his focus. "I'll eat soon, promise." He assures, and then smiles warmly when Pepper's intelligence is complimented by herself, and Alessio both. "Smarter than me, too."

Acacia nods to Parker. "Exactly. And you clearly are NOT that, so I'm sorry for my tasteless joke." Acacia PROBABLY sees what's going on with the chewing, but she really REALLY isn't thinking too deeply about it. She waves a hand to Pepper. "I got it. Don't need anything." Then a smile to Parker. "That said, though, there ARE places you can go safely. There's Olympian Diner, which is a Gnawer holding, There's Curry Corner, which is Strider Owned, Smoke and Barley is Silver Fang and there's the kinfolk house and I KNOW they let the Ananasi go out there because I've seen Chuck out there before." She wraps up the fajita and sets it on the table, tossing a piece of foil over the top to keep the flies off it. But... BUT.. the flies don't seem to be landing on the trays of other food at all.

Pepper senses “Parker's nervousness is building. Potentially to Fight-or-Flight levels.”

Parker nods to Acacia and says, "Okay," to acknowledge the apology and then adds, "I need to go but thank you so much for the welcome." She backs away from the group, heading toward the corner of the shack that Pepper pointed out previously, saying, "I'll go as I came so as not to arouse any suspicions for your secrecy's benefit of course."

Pepper's attention becomes fixed on Parker as she listens to the others speak. She takes a slow step toward her but then pauses when the Ananasi announces her departure. "Byebye, Eyes-in-the-Dark. We go shopping. Shoes!" A boney finger is pointed toward the other woman's bare feet before the blonde waif is turning away. Alessio and Acacia each receive a glance before Pepper saunters up to Jaycob. "Why not camera? Easier."

Alessio gives a quick nod to Parker, "Travel safe. Although, I have a feeling that if there is anyone who knows how to travel safe and unseen, it would be you." he inclines his head to the woman. He looks back to Pepper and Jaycob, and seeing Jaycob back at painting he eyes Pepper, "Hah. Yeah. Camera. She got you there."

Parker nods to Pepper's offer and says, "Have shoes, don't have Talisman Deication Rite so left them with bike," as she reaches the lee of the shack. Her form blurs a bit as... SPIDERS!

A large mass of spiders in Parker form collapses within the clothing that becomes a mass of cobwebs only to fade into umbral nothingness. The spiders spread out into a thin and diffuse carpet that, en mass, scurry around the shed and out towards the city beyond the fence.

"Easier, sure." Jaycob offers in a low sing-song sort of voice towards Pepper and Alessio as they comment on his art, his opposing shoulder rolling in a low shrug for the commentary. "But this is so much more fun. It takes time and creativity, and I can change details as much as I'd like." He observes softly, and then finally seems to set the brush down, peeling back and peering towards the painting, his lips curling brightly. Then he abandons the canvas and makes his way towards the foil covered food, scooping it up and starting to unwrap it. Though when Parker falls apart into Spiders, he shivers softly and takes a step back, biting into his food.

Pepper nods her head once as she accepts Jaycob's answer. "Fine. Go. Food, Mr. Skinny as a Bean." The wiry blonde steps away from Jaycob and glances after the scurrying spiders before she moves over to start helping with the cleanup, Acacia's words be damned!

  1. ↑ Quote from the song "I Am The Spider (Epilogue)
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