Closed Sleeping With Spiders (Pho)

[Dexius]

As the conversation with Phobius continued onward the Symenestra was forced to wiggle forward to the edge of his bench. The temple was becoming so full that even sitting down Dex was starting to get nudged about. Phobius didn't seem to care about all the people around, he wished he could relate.

The Inartan decided to continue conversing about purchasing a house to which Dex could agree was a very expensive prospect. "They can be rather pricey...but the cost is usually worth it in the end. Everyone deserves a place to call their own and to lay their head at night. Some day you'll get the mizas for it, you can get anything if you really try for it."

That thought caused Dex to stop and think about his coming to Alvadas. He had left his place in Kalinor with almost nothing, just a few mizas and his belongings. Now he had a house, but thing is he never had to work for it. His mother's home had almost been waiting for him to arrive in the city so Dex never had to worry for room and board nor for a place to lay his head when he could sleep.

The expression on his faced shifted to sadness for a few ticks. He almost felt like he was flat out lying to the man in front of him. Dex just waltzed into Alvadas and had his home almost just like nothing and he was telling Phobius to work hard if he wanted one of his own. How hypocritical, he hated taking after his father in that regard. But the Inartan sounded so excited to get his own house and the things he could and will do when he got it. "It sounds like you know exactly what you want to do Phobius. I'm sure you and your friends will have a great time with you as the host." He really wished he had some companions to share a space with, it had been a long time since he celebrated anything in anybody's home especially his own.

But Dex was more than a little blind sided when Phobius asked him about his house. "My house...my house is nice I guess. It has everything that I need really. You know a bed, table, storage, and a small fireplace. But it does feel like it's missing that certain something i'm just not sure what it is yet." The Symenestra was very obviously pondering something for more than a few moments and the loudness of the temple quickly filled in the missing gaps of the two men's voices. "Perhaps you would like to visit? Either way it's feeling a bit too uncomfortable in here for me and i'd like to get out regardless."

So Dex quickly rose to his feet from his position on the bench and took a few steps towards the exit of the temple. He looked back to the red haired bird keeper to see if he was following or not, regardless he was leaving with or without Phobius.

[Phobius]

According to Dex, his own house was nice, but there was something that was missing from it, and he wasn't sure what. Neither was Phobius, who thought hard about it for the few ticks that the man spent racking his own brains for an answer. He had all the things that he needed: a place to sleep, a table that he could sit and eat at, a fireplace that could keep him warm... so what else was there?

He was still asking himself that when the Symenestra got up and announced that he was going to leave. The boy frowned a bit; he'd liked sitting and talking with him, and didn't want to see him go so soon... but when he realized that he'd been invited to his home, he lit right up. "Really? Can I?" he asked, a gleeful glint in his eyes. No one had ever invited him to their house, before... not even Miss Maya, though he had more or less invited himself when he had found that dreadful door a few seasons ago. At the time, had he not been so worried—and had she not been so intent on investigating it—he might have enjoyed his visit, as sudden and brief as it was.

Dex started to walk away, then stopped and turned to look at him. Not wanting to keep him waiting, Phobius jumped up off of the bench—much to Nini's dismay—and went to gather his belongings. He moved quickly, stuffing his things into his pack and slinging it over his shoulder before he started to run after his new friend. He doubted that he would leave him behind, but didn't want to risk it by being slow. Fortunately for him, the Symenestra was patient and kept waiting until he caught up; then they walked out of the temple together, though Phobius was practically bouncing on the tips of his toes, far too excited to keep himself still.

[Dexius]

Needless to say Dex was more than a little surprised when he saw Phobius eagerly chasing after him. But at the same time another thing dawned on him. Not once during his time in Alvadas so far did he have another person come to his dwelling. He just didn't have any friends was the case...he thought. Dex was quiet, new to the city, and generally not that open to the general public so it wasn't like he was running in the streets advertising for friendship.

Regardless, he realized today was the day he could perhaps find another person who was at least slightly more relatable. What he also realized was that he may have already bitten off more than he could chew with Phobius. The red haired man had finally caught up with him, his bird's feathers ruffled and pack over his shoulder. Phobius looked more excited to go home than he did, though, he was never exactly fond of going home. But it was always a safety net away from the others in the city. It held some sentimental value but at the same time it was a daunting place for him to continue his meager existence.

The Spider put his hand on the open shoulder of the over excited Phobius and patted it for a few moments. "Ready to go then?" Hopefully Phobius was not always in a jumping around mood. That would get..old. "I hope you aren't expecting anything particularly extravagant when we get there. It's.." Dex paused for a moment and started his trek towards his home, necklace key in hand to guide him. "It's just a house."

The streets of Alvadas were never short of amazing during the daylight hours. The duo passed by just about everything as they walked in what seemed like no particular direction towards Dex's abode and he was always happy to see the street performers and the crazy antics that were going on. But the city seemed like it was going to have its fun of Dex today as he had to readjust their direction no less than three times on the way. Perhaps it was because he never gave thanks to Ionu back in the temple? Whoops.

Eventually the duo finally made it to the front door of what appeared to be his house. "Sorry I didn't clean up, I wasn't exactly expecting company or anything." Dex mumbled slightly as he removed the key from around his neck and pressed it into the lock. The lock seemed enormous compared to the key and almost appeared to be consuming it until Dex gave it a strong turn and heard the 'thunk' of the lock turning over.

Dex pressed the door open and offered Phobius entrance first. "After you my friend, make yourself at home. As much as humanly possible I suppose."

[Phobius]

Phobius hadn't known what to expect from the man's house, other than a door and a few windows, so the potted plants came as a pleasant surprise to him. Then he took a closer look, and frowned when he noticed their brown, shriveled leaves. He was no plant expert, but knew that they were just like people in that they got thirsty, every once in a while. When was the last time that someone had given these some water?

Dex didn't seem to pay the poor things any attention, muttering something about cleaning as he used his key to unlock the door, and Phobius didn't look away from them until he heard it open.

"After you my friend," the Symenestra said, "make yourself at home. As much as humanly possible I suppose."

Not needing to be told twice, the boy smiled and made his way through the threshold. The plants still bothered him, but he'd do something about them a little later, if he could.

Unsurprisingly, the inside of the house was a lot like the outside. There wasn't much furniture, save for a table, a chair, a chest, and a plain old bed, and all of it was dull. Did Dex not like colorful things...? He considered it, then looked around until he found what he assumed was a painting; in it was a woman with hair that was much redder than his own, and a man with pale skin. He didn't recognize either of them, but they looked happy, and he went over to it, wanting to get a better look.

"Who're these people?" Phobius asked, though his eyes had already found other interesting things amidst the pile that was near the painting. "And how come all this stuff is on the floor? Are you throwing it away... ?"

[Dexius]

Dex watched as Phobius scouted what there was to see in his small abode. It didn't take very long, maybe just a few ticks before the man had finished his broad look over the place and headed towards the back. Just as he was finally getting to close and lock the front door of the home he heard Phobius eek out his first two questions. With surely more to follow he assumed.

After removing his sandals he made his way over to the Inartan and took the painting in his hands. The thing was almost hard to look at for Dex. Here was possibly the only rendition of what his real mother would have looked like but every time he looked at it he felt an aching inside. He would never know what the woman was like, what she sounded like, or even if her hair was really that red.

He wouldn't even know her name if it wasn't signed on the back. Cortessa Starfield, the mother he never got to have. Suddenly Dex dropped the painting back into the pile it had come from. He had been staring at it without even the slightest sound for about a chime, the thing was almost entrancing. "That's uh..that's my father. The woman I can only assume is my mother, my real one any way."

Dex turned and made his way across the room to sit by the table. A few boards in the floor moaned in protest, as they always did when he stepped on them. "I'm not exactly sure what to do with that stuff." He shrugged in his seat, not exactly looking at Phobius while talking to him anymore. "Maybe I will throw it all out. I'm not exactly an artist or anything."

The view outside the window had already changed from what it was when they arrived just a few moments ago. Everything was always changing in Alvadas, the people, the town, everything. Change was a strange thing, something almost always out of somebody's control yet he had left his home for change, whatever it was going to bring.

So here he was in his deceased mother's home staring out at a city that never sleeps or wears the same face. He looked over at Phobius and put on as much of a smile as he could. Change was definitely here for him though he wasn't exactly sure what to make of it yet.

[Phobius]

Dex came over and took the painting from him. Then he stared at it, and Phobius did the same. Was there something in it that they were supposed to be looking for, or was this simply the first time that his friend had seen the painting? He wasn't sure, but didn't ask; to him, it almost looked like the Symenestra was trying hard to remember whose faces he was staring at. He didn't want to interrupt him, so he watched and waited until he finally spoke, saying that the pale man was his father and the red-headed woman his "real" mother. The boy frowned a little, unsure of what he'd meant by that last bit, but Dex didn't go into it any further, walking over to his table to sit in his old, lonesome chair.

When he said that he didn't know what to do with his stuff and would probably throw it all out, Phobius immediately spoke up. "Don't!" he exclaimed, sounding as though he were stopping the Symenestra from making one of the biggest mistakes of his life. "You shouldn't get rid of all of it. I mean, it might be old and dusty, but it's not garbage. I'll bet there's some good stuff in there."

To prove his point, he knelt down and started to rummage through the pile—with Nini's help, though in reality the bird was just trying to find something to snack on—nudging aside broken and bent things until he found something fairly decent-looking. "Like... like this," he said, holding up a thick paintbrush so that Dex could see it. Next was a box containing small tubes of paint; most of them were shriveled up, having been drained of every last drop of color, but there were a few that he was sure could still be used. "And this. You could give these to people, or... or even sell them. I'm not an artist, either, but I have a friend who's one, and she'd probably buy these if you showed them to her. Lots of artists would."

Phobius turned to look over at his friend, then, feeling as though he'd come up with some good ideas; if the Symenestra felt the same, then the two of them could gather the stuff up and go all around Alvadas, offering them to whoever was interested. Dex, however, didn't seem to have paid much attention to him, and when he suddenly smiled, the boy felt a strange ache in his heart. It wasn't a real smile; it was small and sad, tempting him to go right over to the man and give him a hug.

What was wrong? Did he... did he miss his mommy and daddy? He hadn't said it, but Phobius assumed that he hadn't seen either of them in a long, long time. Or maybe it was something else. Maybe what he missed was his home, Kalinor, and maybe Alvadas was so different from it that it made him feel bad. Or maybe... maybe...

"Are you... is this... okay?" Phobius asked, his tone soft, mouth moving before he'd fully realized it. "Living here, I mean. In this house. It's nice, but... it's empty, too. Doesn't... doesn't being by yourself here bother you?"

The question had been little more than a thought, a few ticks ago, and the boy hadn't wanted to share it, but now he couldn't help himself.

"It would bother me," he went on, a somber look creeping onto his face. "Even with Nini, I don't think I could live here by myself... or anywhere by myself. I'd be lonely."

[Dexius]

Dex looked over at Phobius curiously as the man exclaimed rather loudly about the scattered artist's tools. He watched as Phobius began rummaging through the various items and eventually presented him with a few salvageable things. Phobius seemed rather adamant that Dex find some way to use them or some person to give the stuff to. Not that he hadn't thought about giving them away, he had many time over at this point. It was just that the things were not really his to give away so he felt bad about the thought of getting rid of the various paints and brushes.

For a few moments Dex thought about keeping the things here in his house where they had been for what he had to assume was just about his entire lifetime so far. But he figured Phobius was right, somebody could use at least a few of the things left and he surely wasn't going to. "If you think she could use them then feel free to give them to her. Who knows, maybe she could teach me how to paint or to draw some time."

There was a brief silence between the two men for a short while. Dex continued to look out into Alvadas from the small window in the house, not that he didn't want to talk to Phobius but rather he was not exactly sure what to say. Dex had spent the better part of two seasons basically by himself outside of the small caravan that had brought him to Alvadas from Kalinor.

Now he was here in a city much larger than his home with a much more diverse culture and people but he still maintained the same cautious approach to people. Phobius on the other hand seemed to be his exact opposite in that regard. He was eager to get to talk to and get to know Dex which was far more eager than most people had been in his life so far. He wasn't even sure he would want to know about himself this badly.

Dex's thoughts drifted off as Phobius broke the silence again, digging in with more questions. Was it okay? Was being alone in the house bothering him? Apparently it would bother Phobius. "I don't really..stop to think about things like that. I've spent most of my life with very little companionship, Phobius."

What he said to Phobius wasn't completely a lie. He had spent a large part of his life with just his family and his best friend for people to talk to. But the lie began to seep through the cracks when he told Phobius he really didn't think about it. Truth was he thought about it a lot, probably more than he even realized but not that he would ever admit it to himself. "You shouldn't let things like that bother you. Loneliness is just another battle to fight...and we all combat it in different ways."

With that Dex hopped up from his seat at the table and went over to Phobius. He attempted to pat his pet bird, Nini he had called it. "See, everyone has their way." Dex didn't exactly have an affinity for animals but he has hoping the thing wouldn't nip at him. "You seem to be mostly alone here in Alvadas. What keeps it from bothering you?"

[Phobius]

That heart-wrenching smile didn't last long, fading from the Symenestra's lips when he said that he didn't think about things like that. It sounded like he'd gotten used to living on his own in a strange new place, in addition to not having a whole lot of friends. Still, Phobius felt bad for him, and couldn't understand how he wasn't miserable. As for loneliness being a "battle"... well, he'd never been much of a fighter, and doubted that he did a good job of grappling with it whenever it paid him a visit.

When Dex came over and reached for Nini, she eyed his outstretched hand, only to shy away from it when she seemed to realize that he wasn't offering her a treat. "Sorry," Phobius said, apologizing on behalf of his feathered friend with a small smile. "She doesn't like strangers. Once you get to know her, though, she's really friendly."

He half-expected the Symenestra to try again, but he didn't, instead asking a question that struck the boy as odd. "I'm not alone," he affirmed, looking almost confused. "I've got Miss Maya and Mister Ekans. I don't get to see them all the time, 'cause Mister Ekans has his job and Miss Maya draws, and I feel bad about bothering them sometimes, but..."

And then he trailed off, not too sure where he was going with his words. For a moment he seemed to struggle with them, his thoughts drifting in and out of Common, tempting him to revert to his native tongue. It wasn't until he made some sense of what was going on in his own head that he spoke, again.

"It's okay. They're my friends and I like seeing them, but I like seeing other people, too, and Alvadas is full of people. As long as there's people, I don't feel alone," he said, sounding as though he didn't know how else to explain it. And it was the truth, even if he felt a bit different at night, when he'd lie awake in bed and wish that someone was there to tell him that there was nothing to be afraid of; that his dreams were just dreams, and that the monsters in them weren't real, despite how hard they tried to be.

OOCNOT DEAD!