Gentleman in the Forest (old ver.)

"Climbing walls and ceilings is a good workout. It's most of how I've managed to stay in decent shape despite being a bit of a homebody." He said, chuckling as he finished cutting up the sausage and moved to throw salt and the spaghetti in the pot he was boiling water in. "Alright, your turn."

"You said you use the computer, so do you have any friends you keep in touch with? I mean I would think you have a couple humans you're friends with, at least for business purposes." she asked, pouring marinara sauce into pan.

"Oh yes! I have two good friends I keep in touch with everyday through email. There's Jim, of course. He's a park ranger and allows me to use a nearby station cabin as an address both for my business and for all my online shopping. It's how I ordered most of the things you see here, though I had to assemble them myself for the most part." He said, gesturing again to his things in the cave. "There's also Ray. He's been my best friend since I was a young boy. He was the first one to accept me for who I am instead of being scared of what I am. He helped me escape my first home after his father saw me one day and burned my home there to the ground. We've kept in touch ever since."

"Oh." Felicity said, her face sinking in sympathy. "Well, I suppose it's your turn to ask a question then." She turned a burner on the electric stove on low and placed the pan with the sauce on it for him.

"Well," He paused, gulping nervously as he put the sausage in a second pan with a lid onto the stove. "As you've probably guessed, I've not many people in my life to care about so I can't help but be curious. How about you? Is there anyone special in your life right now? I mean I'm sure you have friends, but is there anyone deeper than that? A lover perhaps?" He took deep, calming breaths as he awaited her answer. He knew not to get his hopes up, but the small, hopeful thought he'd had in the bath wouldn't leave his mind and he needed an answer to it.

"Oh, well..." she said, brushing a hair behind her ear. "I haven't had much luck in the dating department. Not a lot of guys are really into a girl who's got better muscles then they do. The few people who do want to date me are either girls who think I'm into the same sex, or guys who think they deserve to get into my pants if they prove they're stronger than me." Nathaniel could see her mood visibly sour as she spoke. She stopped for a moment and an uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a moment before she finally continued. "I mean, there was one guy. He didn't care about...these" she said, pointing to the toned muscles on her arms. "He was sweet and he actually got to know me and the things I liked. But..."

She paused and took a deep breath as she seemed to be lost in thought. It was easy for Nathaniel to see the look on her face and easier still for him to recognize it. He had seen that look on his own face in the mirror plenty of times whenever unpleasant memories would re-surface. In his case, it was memories of trusting the wrong people. He had trusted that Ray's parents would be good people just as Ray himself was, but they tracked down his home and burned it to the ground. He had trusted Casey, a college student he thought was open minded but was leading the hunt for him the very next week after he had made the mistake of revealing himself in person to the man. Maybe... we could help with each other's pain. If she'll let me. He thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, there was one day back when I was still in college. My ex and I had been dating for years, and I was sure he was going to propose any day. So imagine my surprise and delight when one day he says he wants to talk to me in private when we get home from a very nice day out. I get in the door, all smiles and butterflies in my stomach and he turns around and tells me he's been seeing my brother for four months behind my back. Then" she said in an angry, bitter tone while pausing to wipe tears from her eyes, "He tells me that he's breaking up with me because he loves my brother and tries to be all 'I'm so sorry baby, I didn't mean to hurt you'." She stopped talking suddenly, tears choking her up and saying anything more for the moment. For several moments, they just stood there in silence while she got the tears out of her system. She turned to look Nathaniel in the face, seeing a sad, sympathetic expression on his face. She knew what she would ask him next. "So have you ever been hurt by family?"

"I never got the chance." He said after a few more moments of silence between them. "I was separated from my family by a fire in the forest where we lived. My dad had a cabin near the cave where my mother had her nest. He spent time with us every day, but one day the part of the forest we lived in burned down. I got trapped in the cave while my parents were having date night. I only survived because I had found a small hole I was able to crawl out of that connected to the nearby river. I passed out because I was having trouble keeping my head above the water and woke up later somewhere down river. I was never able to find them again since the fire change the forest so drastically that I couldn't find my way back, so I left and went to the town I became friends with Ray in." He explained. When he had finished, Felicity's own tears had dried up and she gave him a look of sympathy.

"I'm sorry. For everything that's happened to you." she said to him. She was surprised when he simply took a deep breath and regained his original pleasant demeanor.

"I've found my peace with it." he replied calmly. "Plus, my parents might still be out there somewhere. Perhaps I'll go out and look for them one day, but I want to prepared before I head back out into humanity's world. Hopefully, make a few more good friends that I can trust to help me." He said as a timer went off. "Oh! Dinner's done." He skittered off before she could say another word and she just smiled softly at him as she watched him grab plates and place the food onto them.

"It smells great." she said, taking a deep breath and admiring the aroma. They went to the table together and he pulled out her chair for her with a slight bow, causing her to giggle slightly as she thanked him and took her seat. He walked away for a bit, heading over to the fridge as he turned to her once again.

"What can I get you to drink, Felicity? I don't have anything with caffeine or alcohol, but I do have water, milk and several types of juices. Anything in particular strike your fancy?" He asked, pulling out each drink as he listed them so she could see what he was mentioning.

"I'll take that grape juice, since you don't have any wine to go with our pasta." she said, a teasing tone in her voice. "Of course, now I'm wondering why the lack of caffeine and alcohol in your drink selections. Don't you enjoy the taste of coffee or wine?"

"It's because of my biology. I get drunk very easily off of both caffeine and alcohol and well...let's just say that the last time I got drunk, I ended up breaking a lot of things." he said, turning his head away with a look that clearly told her that he didn't like remembering it. He took another deep breath and put that calm look back on his face as he came back with a grape juice for her and a simple glass of water for himself. As he went over to where he had left his plate, she watched him bend his legs down to have himself at eye level with her.

Kind of weird that he doesn't have a chair or some kind of sofa to sit at his own table with. She thought, but decided it would be better not to say it out loud. They started eating dinner, each stealing a glance at the other from time to time but otherwise remaining in a state of awkward silence. Finally, Felicity decided she'd had enough of the silence and broke it.

"So you asked me about my love life. What about yours? Any lady loves in your past?" she asked, trying to make it seem like just a casual question so he wouldn't think she was flirting with him. He looked shocked to hear her ask that of him and she could see him appear to debate with himself over whether or not to actually say anything at all. Is it painful, or embarrassing? Those looks are not helping my curiosity. she thought as she looked at the gambit of emotions running on his face. Finally, he appeared to have made up his mind and replied to her.

"I've...haven't found love yet. I know it will happen one day. It has to. After all, everyone has a true love somewhere. Just a matter of fate."

She looked at him dumbfounded, unable to believe that those words had just come out of his mouth. This giant spider-guy had just looked her dead in the eye and spoke about one day finding his true love, like he was some fairy tale princess. The same guy who had wrapped her in a web cocoon and scared her so bad she had actually wet herself, just basically told her that he was waiting for love at first sight so he wouldn't be alone anymore.

I mean I guess it kind of makes sense he would think that way. she thought, He's had to stay isolated from basically everyone his whole life so all he has is a memory of his parents being lovey-dovey and the stories he probably used to absorb as reference. He just doesn't get what it's really like, I guess. She contemplated whether or not she should confront him with reality. It wasn't really her business, but it just seemed cruel to leave him in this cave thinking that this one perfect woman would just miraculously come along. No, she decided. I've got to be straight with him, for his own good.

"Look, Nathaniel. That true love you're looking for? It doesn't exist. It's an ideal fantasy portrayed in fairy tales to make women feel bad for not being happy just to be married in the dark ages, then later to sell princess crap to little girls. You can't just see someone for the first time and poof, instant successful long-term relationship." she said, trying to sound gentle but not doing a good job of it.

"That's a bit harsh, Felicity." he replied, sounding a bit irritated. "I realize it's not as simple as just making eye contact, but I know that there's someone out there for everyone. If there wasn't, then nearly everyone else would have to spend most of their lives alone. Would you really wish that fate on anyone?"

"Most of us do spend our lives alone! It's not a big deal, honestly. You get into a relationship, it stops working at some point and hopefully the two of you part on good terms. Your ideal fantasy is ridiculous and it's just going to get you hurt in the end. Just play the field, focus on a good for-now relationship and hope it becomes something more, instead of waiting around and hoping that you'll bump into your soul mate because it was fated to be." She told him, waving her hands in the air to emphasize her last three words. She looked back up at him and saw a look of deep hurt on his face.

"Well, dating around isn't really an option for an Arachne." he spat out in anger before his face quickly fell into sadness, "After all, people don't like monsters." He finished, his pain and sadness evident in his tone and posture as he grabbed his now empty plate and walked away.

"Wait." Felicity said, reaching her hand out to him. "Please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I had to tell you the truth." He just looked at her for a moment and turned back away. "I'm sorry." she said once more, far too meek to be heard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course she thinks that way. Nathaniel thought to himself as he brought his plate over to the sink to clean it. She gone through unworthy suitors one after another after being left by someone she thought was her true love. Why would she think the same way I do? He thought, his head lost in his feelings of sorrow and loneliness while his body went on autopilot to clean. He was vaguely aware that Felicity was saying something to him, but he wasn't listening.

I don't know what I was thinking... No, that's a lie. I know exactly what I was thinking. He continued moving around, cleaning everything as Felicity followed him everywhere. Her voice got louder and sounded more desperate than before but he was just too buried in his thoughts to hear her.

I had hoped it was more than just chance. Sure, it was rough at the start but she's a nice girl. And that laugh I heard.. A small, bittersweet smile found its way unbidden to his face as he recalled hearing her laugh for the first time. Her voice was clearer to him now and he could tell she was apologizing about something but refused to listen.

Then, when she came out in that dress...How could that not be fate? I made that dress after seeing it in a dream. I chose the size at random and yet it fits her perfectly! How could that be anything other than fate?! He sighed heavily. I shouldn't have thought I could wish to be anything more than friends with her. His face and his mood feel deeper into the void of his sorrow and Felicity's voice became clearer. She was saying something about hurting him, and she was still apologizing.

It was stupid to think that way. Selfish even. I can just have friends and be happy, can't I? She said it herself, most people spend their lives alone. Why should I be any different? Because I wanted it? Because I thought I deserved it? He finished the dishes as Felicity's voice grew softer, her words almost clear enough to make out. It wasn't fate that I met someone else who was having troubles finding love, just a matter of time. Maybe she's right....Maybe I won't ever find love.

"Nathaniel, please." Felicity said, finally grabbing his attention by taking his hand in her own. He looked down into her face, at the look of apology on it and it finally dawned on him. She had been apologizing to him the entire time he had been lost in his own thoughts. "I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth. True love just doesn't exist in the real world and I didn't want that fact to hurt you. I didn't mean be the one to hurt you. I just wanted to help."

He looked down at her, at the honesty in her face and just felt numb. She'd thought she was helping him, telling him that his love wasn't meant to be. Perhaps she meant to just find my happiness with friends and family. He thought as he gently pulled his hand away from hers. He forced the last of his sorrow from his face and put on the best smile he could but the look on Felicity's face told him that she didn't believe it was a real smile. His face fell again, remaining nearly blank as he turned away from her and spoke.

"You don't have to apologize to me anymore." He said, continuing to talk as he slowly walked away from her. "I'm going to go outside for a bit. I need to make sure that the rain is being collected into my water tanks properly so I can take a bath tomorrow. Your laundry should be done soaking, if you wanted to take care of that while I'm out." He paused right outside of the entryway, looking back at her with that same neutral look. "I should be back in a little bit." With that, he left the cave, leaving Felicity on her own as he stepped into the pouring rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felicity watched as he left the cave and irritation filled her body. She turned around and stomped off back to the laundry area that he had shown her earlier. When she got there, she found an old washing board and grabbed her shirt, furiously scrubbing away at it to try and vent her anger.

I just wanted to help! It's not my fault he hasn't had that many opportunities to go on a date and see what trying to fall in love is really like. She thought as she squeezed the water out of her shirt and set it aside to rinse later. I know it's a different opinion from one he's held for a long time, but I've actually gone on dates. He's been stuck in this cave the whole time, only interacting with people online and probably sparingly at that. He needed to know!

She grabbed her shorts next, scrubbing with as much vigor as she had her shirt without an ounce of verbal complaint. It honestly felt good to her to have something to physically push her frustrations onto. I get that it's not what he wants to hear but that doesn't make it any less the truth. I mean what else was I supposed to do, let him lose he might have of getting a second date because he blows the first one talking about true love? She squeezed the water out of her shorts, hanging them up next to her shirt and began fishing around for the next piece of laundry to take her building anger out on.

What's he even so upset for? It's not like I told him he's not allowed to date anyone, or that nobody would ever want to date him. She thought as her hands found the next piece of laundry in the bucket, her panties. She pulled them out of the water, saw the yellow stain drip off and the humiliation of wetting herself despite being a grown woman made her anger flare up as she put them to the washing board, desperate to get rid of the evidence of her shame.

It's naive and stupid and childish! She thought, gnashing her teeth together as she scrubbed her underwear clean. 'Oh look at me!' She continued, a bad impression of him being made with the voice of her thoughts, 'I'm Nathaniel and I believe in true love despite having eight legs and no life experience! I want to just look at someone and be with them forever because I'm too fancy to date arou...

Her thoughts stopped suddenly, along with her hands. The words of her mind had brought unbidden the memory of one of his responses to her. Dating around isn't really an option for an Arachne. Nobody likes monsters. The words echoed loud and clear in her mind, in his voice and hurt tone and a revelation tore through her. He's not stupid or naive. He's desperate. He knows how people will react to him. How I reacted to him. Shame started to fill her up as she thought about her words again and about how they must have sounded to him. He probably feels trapped in this cave. Unable to risk going out because people might try and hurt him. Of course he's waiting for true love to find him. He probably thinks his only other choice is just stay here alone for the rest of his life.

Suddenly, thoughts of him being alone in his home flooded her. Just him, alone every single day as he slowly got older and older until one day he was just gone. Nothing left but a body and the hollow heartache of a good man who didn't want to be alone anymore. She saw water drop onto her hands and realized that she had started to cry again. He doesn't deserve that. Nobody deserves to be alone for their entire life. You'd think I would be able to sympathize with that, having done nothing but strike out in my own love life for so long but it's worse for him. At least I still have my family and my friends, people who care about me and will miss me when I'm gone. She found her tears flowing harder and she quickly wringed and hung her panties up.

Oh god, I've been horrible. Worse, I thought it was being helpful. She thought, a small smile and a quiet chuckle gracing her mind as she got some water in another bucket and splashed it on her clothes to get the last of the soap out. When did I even start thinking he was just a nice guy anyway? He cocooned me with spider webs for heaven's sake. I can't let this happen. I won't! He's not a bad guy, and anyone who spends any time with him would know that. I've got to apologize. Really apologize. Not that half-hearted 'sorry your feelings got hurt' bull crap I was spouting off earlier. He deserves better.