[No one tell Henry Creel about Michael spewing spiders from his mouth. He might not ever leave him alone.
Though his face was not fully disapproving before, just a faint shadow etched across the line of his brow, Henry's features soften when she sounds amiable to the request that he relocate the spider instead. For him, that's about a task as easy as breathing, and he nods.
He turns his body at just the right angle to lean in, assessing how to approach the arachnid. It isn't a very large one, but in some ways, that makes it more difficult.]
I've had an affinity for spiders ever since I was young. When I was twelve...
[Ah, here. His hands draw closer to the little spider, cupped and slow.]
I used to collect them from underneath the floorboards of my home, and keep them in glass jars for a short while.
[ It's good then, that Claire took a vow of silence on that one. Watching as he thoughtfully seems to think through how best to get the spider, she listens with rapt attention; both because she thinks it's an interesting hobby, and because she enjoyed their last conversation in the gardens. ]
Is arachnology something you've had the opportunity to study?
[ She isn't sure how others would respond to that fact about him, but Claire grew up in an unusual way, so a passion for arachnids doesn't seem all that odd to her. At least not as he's described thus far.
When he has the small spider, she leads the way to the tomatoes, leisurely walking, in no rush if he isn't. ]
[He retrieves the spider without so much as damaging the gossamer silk it was resting upon, and the little arachnid remains in the palm of his hand as he stands and moves to follow Claire.
The question has him quirking his lips like there's a little joke in there that only he would understand.]
You mean here, or before this world?
[The tomato plants are tall and lush, their leaves swaying in the warm breeze. They brush against him as he passes.]
[ Though she remembers his mentioning he was a prisoner in his world. She didn't pry because it isn't her business, but it does make her regret her phrasing.
Once she gets to the plant struggling with small pests, she kneels down and shows him, pointing it out. ]
I'm hoping this might make a better home for everyone. Plenty of aphids over here driving me mad. [ She pauses, letting him do what he will in order to relocate the small garden helper. ] And a better question might have been: what made you so curious about spiders? Only if you don't mind answering.
[That's right. Not a lot of time for study when kept in a lab; but then again, reading material was made available to him, but hardly anything that might qualify him as a true specialist in the field. It's simply by way of his fixation at a tender twelve years of age does he know so much about spiders, about handling them... And here? He's been able to follow that line of interest for months.]
I can continue my study of them here. [He says plainly, implying that he could not before.] And of course I don't mind.
[In fact, this is a subject that he could go on and on and on about. Claire might find she'll regret asking this at all.]
They're solitary and misunderstood. [He kneels down at the indicated plant, knees in the soil without much care, his focus solely on urging the spider beneath the splay of a few green leaves.] Will you laugh if I say... I related to them, in that way, when I was younger?
[ Her brow creases just a little, a flash and then gone before her gaze moves back to the spider. ]
I was an orphan at age five. I very much made friends no one else could've understood.
[ Claire hasn't told many people about that part of her past—none in Abraxas, and only Jamie and Frank in her life at home. ]
You must understand a thing or two about taking your loneliness and making something out of it. I used to make up stories about all the artifacts my uncle was digging up, and recite them at supper. Thrilling, I know. Not as fascinating as spiders, anyway.
[Henry can't say that's precisely the reply he expected. Some form of passing understanding, at least, a "oh, it's not that strange to like spiders", but Claire's taken it to a different level — she’s turned it into empathy, a sort of camaraderie in…
Well, not loneliness. A word that he would not so quickly apply to himself, too raw, too vulnerable. Instead, it’s better to think of it as a sadness in being different.
He doesn’t reply at first, instead making sure the little spider is settled before he pulls his hands away.]
Did you not feel like you could make friends the… normal way? With other children?
[Broken, his parents had called him. And perhaps his inability to connect with other children had helped keep that label plastered to him.]
[ Thinking about her answer, she wants to be truthful, even if his question makes her heart squeeze a little. His words say so much that she wants to say yes so he doesn't feel alone with that experience. Of course she won't, but that isn't to say she hasn't had her share of not fitting in. ]
I was orphaned a few days after my fifth birthday. From then on, I traveled across the world with my uncle. I rarely spoke the language of the places we went. Depending on the location, other children didn't want to play with me, or their parents wouldn't allow it. I had tutors instead of school, and plants instead of friends. Not every place was awful, and as I got older I was able to find my own fun alone.
[ By making out with random people, but that doesn't need to be part of the story. She wasn't the same as broken (not at that stage of her life, anyway), no parents hurt or shamed her. But loneliness had been her normal, making up her own stories about random objects she'd find and stuff in her pockets for later. ]
I think our experiences may have been quite different.
[ Claire stands and brushes her hands off gently. She'd like to keep talking to him if he would, and so she gestures toward a fenced-off area surrounded on three sides by a flower garden. ]
Would you like to see the bee houses I've started?
[It's some manner of loneliness, though, again, the word is one that Henry still will not humor in his own head. Pride, a degree of self-awareness he doesn't possesses, denial; maybe it's all of the above. Still, it's enough to draw a parallel, yet different enough in experiences--as she says--that still affords Henry some distant comfort.
He has no reply. He only shakes his head, though have no doubt he's considered what she's said in his head at least more than once over.
And then he stands, turning to face her and looking at where she's indicated.]
...Sure. [Why not, he supposes.] Is it a personal project, or...?
A personal project. Bees, or rather their honey, is useful medically. I'm hoping not only will we have something to trade, but an antiseptic as well. Honey contains hydrogen peroxide and it never goes bad.
[ Two perfect uses: sustenance and aid. Skirts in hand, she leads the way to the hives where the needs are buzzing in and out of the four hives she's made with Nanaue's help. ]
It will take another two months or so to see a decent production, but we could always try a little sneak preview. If you like honey, that is.
[He follows, the information registering in his mind with a lowkey kind of interest, though he never was--and never will be, let's be real--the kind of man who possesses a mind for healing. Only violence, and anger, and finding an outlet for it when the moment is right.
But for now, bees!]
I like honey well enough.
[Non-committal, but true.]
Mostly, I'm interested in seeing how their hive works. It's all very efficient, from what I hear.
[ Claire's such a nerd for these things, and she explains as the walk, launching into how the bees keep the hive cool with their wings, how they kill intruders the same way: by surrounding them and overheating them with all of their collective wing power, the flip side of their good use of power. When she's finished they've made it to four bee houses fenched in only to keep animals and small children from getting too close.
The droning sound is faint, the bees seeming to move at a near constant pace, back and forth from bright wildflowers to the hives. ]
I have four small colonies for now, but new queens will hatch and in theory if I wanted, I could keep building houses.
[ She's rather proud of herself, because she wasn't even sure if she could make the houses at all. ]
[Bees aren't spiders, but Henry is, in fact, a bit of a nerd, too. If his life had not turned out the way it had, one might say that his hobbies would have been peak nerd -- so naturally, he listens with interest.
When they approach, the droning is a low background noise, but he tracks a few bees with his eyes as they move to and fro, collecting pollen from the bright faces of wildflowers nearby.]
That's impressive. Who taught you how to do all of this? Or did you learn on your own when you arrived in Solvunn?
I've always had a keen interest in botany, so that part came easily. The bee house making was trial and error. You should see all the scrap wood that sacrificed its life for this project.
[ She smiles with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. ]
I knew the basics from learning a long, long time ago. When I was around your age, maybe. The first few houses I built didn't take, I made the space between the combs too wide, but now we're in business.
[ She doesn't have any smoke with her, so she can't calm the bees and get closer to sample the honey, but she finds that it's peaceful just to watch and listen. ]
I think I needed this project to keep my mind busy. I get lost in my head when there isn't enough to do, and this kept me occupied for a good long while.
[Getting lost in one's mind when there isn't something to do; he holds back a remark about having to find distraction in tasks so rote, because perhaps this one instance doesn't quite count. Keeping bees, building their houses, is at least of middling more interest than tending to the local goat population. (He hates doing that, by the way.)
So maybe that alone is enough to prompt:]
Do you never need help with them? Their upkeep, I mean.
There is quite a lot of regular maintenance that needs to be done. Wax has to be replaced, so when the honey is scraped off the combs, the wax goes into a different bucket to fix any damage done from harvesting. The houses wear out because they're exposed to weather, and of course, there's harvesting the honey itself. Always easier with another person.
[ More work comes in the fall, when the houses need to be moved, but that's for later. ]
[He actually pauses before he replies, uncertain how to reply. Henry seems to realize that this is one more "chore" he is willingly signing himself up for, going against the grain of what he hates the most in life: dull, dull routine.
...But this? This does sound actually vaguely interesting, and so-]
I guess I am offering. If you'll have me.
[Easier with another person, though he knows next to nothing about keeping bees, but Claire is well-aware of that given his questions.]
Of course I'll have you, Henry, I appreciate it. It isn't that I mind the work, but I can do other things too, with your help. The bees don't take all that much. The basic rules are simply wear long-sleeved everything, gloves, and the veiled hat. I keep everything in one of the common storage sheds.
[ Something else she's hoping to change with the building of a house. Her own home, surgery, garden shed...the dream. ]
I don't doubt you're a fast learner. If you wanted, I could even show you a few things today.
[ Either way it doesn't bother her; the bees are technically cared for the day, anything else would simply be showing him how things are done. ]
Or any day you'd like, but the work typically begins as near sunrise as you can manage. Then again in the evenings after the sun has gone down. We can work something out between us, a schedule of sorts if you like the work?
[ Honestly, she's just elated that anyone wants to learn about this in depth from her. It's likely made her day. ]
[Henry already wears long sleeves all the time, if just for the sake of covering the small tattoo on his wrist. Though... Claire is going to make the rest of Solvunn be privvy to the image of Henry Creel in a veiled hat. This is either going to be beautiful or terrible.]
I don't see an issue with any of that.
[His pride hinges on other things, and definitely not an outward appearance, Solvunnite!beekeeper vibes or otherwise.]
I don't have much of a schedule. The family I'm staying with expects me to get a few chores done in the morning, but I'm an early riser. [Old lab habits.] I can make any time work.
[She'll find that Henry rarely shies away from what most people balk at. This includes bugs and chores that, while he does not like getting his hands dirty doing them, are messier than most.
(And also monsters and violence and all the nasty things in-between.)
He shrugs his shoulders a little, pleasant.]
I'm sure I can slot it into my busy schedule. [A joke.] I'll meet you here, then, Claire.
[ Already, she's thinking she might get Henry his own gloves and hat, so that if they ever need to work at the same time, neither of them will be caught out unprotected.
With that same easy smile, Claire nods. ]
Until the morning, then. And if things do get overwhelming, be sure to let me know.
[ She's in on the joke, giving him a little wink before deciding to get back to her gardening. ]
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np, thank you for waiting on me!
Though his face was not fully disapproving before, just a faint shadow etched across the line of his brow, Henry's features soften when she sounds amiable to the request that he relocate the spider instead. For him, that's about a task as easy as breathing, and he nods.
He turns his body at just the right angle to lean in, assessing how to approach the arachnid. It isn't a very large one, but in some ways, that makes it more difficult.]
I've had an affinity for spiders ever since I was young. When I was twelve...
[Ah, here. His hands draw closer to the little spider, cupped and slow.]
I used to collect them from underneath the floorboards of my home, and keep them in glass jars for a short while.
of course!! <3
Is arachnology something you've had the opportunity to study?
[ She isn't sure how others would respond to that fact about him, but Claire grew up in an unusual way, so a passion for arachnids doesn't seem all that odd to her. At least not as he's described thus far.
When he has the small spider, she leads the way to the tomatoes, leisurely walking, in no rush if he isn't. ]
no subject
The question has him quirking his lips like there's a little joke in there that only he would understand.]
You mean here, or before this world?
[The tomato plants are tall and lush, their leaves swaying in the warm breeze. They brush against him as he passes.]
no subject
[ Though she remembers his mentioning he was a prisoner in his world. She didn't pry because it isn't her business, but it does make her regret her phrasing.
Once she gets to the plant struggling with small pests, she kneels down and shows him, pointing it out. ]
I'm hoping this might make a better home for everyone. Plenty of aphids over here driving me mad. [ She pauses, letting him do what he will in order to relocate the small garden helper. ] And a better question might have been: what made you so curious about spiders? Only if you don't mind answering.
no subject
I can continue my study of them here. [He says plainly, implying that he could not before.] And of course I don't mind.
[In fact, this is a subject that he could go on and on and on about. Claire might find she'll regret asking this at all.]
They're solitary and misunderstood. [He kneels down at the indicated plant, knees in the soil without much care, his focus solely on urging the spider beneath the splay of a few green leaves.] Will you laugh if I say... I related to them, in that way, when I was younger?
no subject
[ Her brow creases just a little, a flash and then gone before her gaze moves back to the spider. ]
I was an orphan at age five. I very much made friends no one else could've understood.
[ Claire hasn't told many people about that part of her past—none in Abraxas, and only Jamie and Frank in her life at home. ]
You must understand a thing or two about taking your loneliness and making something out of it. I used to make up stories about all the artifacts my uncle was digging up, and recite them at supper. Thrilling, I know. Not as fascinating as spiders, anyway.
no subject
Well, not loneliness. A word that he would not so quickly apply to himself, too raw, too vulnerable. Instead, it’s better to think of it as a sadness in being different.
He doesn’t reply at first, instead making sure the little spider is settled before he pulls his hands away.]
Did you not feel like you could make friends the… normal way? With other children?
[Broken, his parents had called him. And perhaps his inability to connect with other children had helped keep that label plastered to him.]
no subject
I was orphaned a few days after my fifth birthday. From then on, I traveled across the world with my uncle. I rarely spoke the language of the places we went. Depending on the location, other children didn't want to play with me, or their parents wouldn't allow it. I had tutors instead of school, and plants instead of friends. Not every place was awful, and as I got older I was able to find my own fun alone.
[ By making out with random people, but that doesn't need to be part of the story. She wasn't the same as broken (not at that stage of her life, anyway), no parents hurt or shamed her. But loneliness had been her normal, making up her own stories about random objects she'd find and stuff in her pockets for later. ]
I think our experiences may have been quite different.
[ Claire stands and brushes her hands off gently. She'd like to keep talking to him if he would, and so she gestures toward a fenced-off area surrounded on three sides by a flower garden. ]
Would you like to see the bee houses I've started?
no subject
He has no reply. He only shakes his head, though have no doubt he's considered what she's said in his head at least more than once over.
And then he stands, turning to face her and looking at where she's indicated.]
...Sure. [Why not, he supposes.] Is it a personal project, or...?
no subject
[ Two perfect uses: sustenance and aid. Skirts in hand, she leads the way to the hives where the needs are buzzing in and out of the four hives she's made with Nanaue's help. ]
It will take another two months or so to see a decent production, but we could always try a little sneak preview. If you like honey, that is.
slow crawls back in here from my hiatus
But for now, bees!]
I like honey well enough.
[Non-committal, but true.]
Mostly, I'm interested in seeing how their hive works. It's all very efficient, from what I hear.
i was also on hiatus! <3
[ Claire's such a nerd for these things, and she explains as the walk, launching into how the bees keep the hive cool with their wings, how they kill intruders the same way: by surrounding them and overheating them with all of their collective wing power, the flip side of their good use of power. When she's finished they've made it to four bee houses fenched in only to keep animals and small children from getting too close.
The droning sound is faint, the bees seeming to move at a near constant pace, back and forth from bright wildflowers to the hives. ]
I have four small colonies for now, but new queens will hatch and in theory if I wanted, I could keep building houses.
[ She's rather proud of herself, because she wasn't even sure if she could make the houses at all. ]
hi5!!
When they approach, the droning is a low background noise, but he tracks a few bees with his eyes as they move to and fro, collecting pollen from the bright faces of wildflowers nearby.]
That's impressive. Who taught you how to do all of this? Or did you learn on your own when you arrived in Solvunn?
no subject
[ She smiles with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. ]
I knew the basics from learning a long, long time ago. When I was around your age, maybe. The first few houses I built didn't take, I made the space between the combs too wide, but now we're in business.
[ She doesn't have any smoke with her, so she can't calm the bees and get closer to sample the honey, but she finds that it's peaceful just to watch and listen. ]
I think I needed this project to keep my mind busy. I get lost in my head when there isn't enough to do, and this kept me occupied for a good long while.
no subject
So maybe that alone is enough to prompt:]
Do you never need help with them? Their upkeep, I mean.
no subject
[ Claire looks at him with a half-smile. ]
There is quite a lot of regular maintenance that needs to be done. Wax has to be replaced, so when the honey is scraped off the combs, the wax goes into a different bucket to fix any damage done from harvesting. The houses wear out because they're exposed to weather, and of course, there's harvesting the honey itself. Always easier with another person.
[ More work comes in the fall, when the houses need to be moved, but that's for later. ]
no subject
...But this? This does sound actually vaguely interesting, and so-]
I guess I am offering. If you'll have me.
[Easier with another person, though he knows next to nothing about keeping bees, but Claire is well-aware of that given his questions.]
I'm a fast learner, at least.
my targeted ads now think i'm a beekeeper lmao
[ Something else she's hoping to change with the building of a house. Her own home, surgery, garden shed...the dream. ]
I don't doubt you're a fast learner. If you wanted, I could even show you a few things today.
[ Either way it doesn't bother her; the bees are technically cared for the day, anything else would simply be showing him how things are done. ]
Or any day you'd like, but the work typically begins as near sunrise as you can manage. Then again in the evenings after the sun has gone down. We can work something out between us, a schedule of sorts if you like the work?
[ Honestly, she's just elated that anyone wants to learn about this in depth from her. It's likely made her day. ]
HAHA that's very funny
I don't see an issue with any of that.
[His pride hinges on other things, and definitely not an outward appearance, Solvunnite!beekeeper vibes or otherwise.]
I don't have much of a schedule. The family I'm staying with expects me to get a few chores done in the morning, but I'm an early riser. [Old lab habits.] I can make any time work.
no subject
Thank you, Henry. Why don't you meet me here tomorrow morning, and I can show you how to start and end the day. Would that be alright?
[ So far, no one's actually wanted to be near the bee houses, which she understands and didn't mind. But it's nice to know Henry is willing. ]
no subject
(And also monsters and violence and all the nasty things in-between.)
He shrugs his shoulders a little, pleasant.]
I'm sure I can slot it into my busy schedule. [A joke.] I'll meet you here, then, Claire.
no subject
With that same easy smile, Claire nods. ]
Until the morning, then. And if things do get overwhelming, be sure to let me know.
[ She's in on the joke, giving him a little wink before deciding to get back to her gardening. ]