Oh, molting - what a shock it was, to experience a sensation he hadn't felt in... months? Years? He hadn't even kept track of those things, the things that had last happened before the dimension skip, so when he woke up one day on top of a tree feeling the fervent need to shed his carapace, it was one of the strangest, most out of body experiences he had ever had. To feel something you thought had ceased, in this case the growth of a body he assumed had hit its growth peak, a sensation that hadn't been felt in so long that it almost felt like a dream, something carried over from his sleep - to feel that now was shocking, plain and simple. But he was adaptable first in foremost, priding himself on being able to be accustomed to almost anything, so the shock of feeling his inner body squeezed uncomfortably against his carapace faded quickly enough for him to do something about it.

Ten to twenty minutes of wriggling later - he couldn't tell, honestly, it sort of blended together - he was free from his natural shackles, feeling fleshy and vulnerable without the chitinous shell there, something made all the more poignant by how sensitive he was, but that didn't matter - the utmost feeling in his body was confusion, a deep green that seemed to be swirling in his eyes, confusion at one thing. He had grown. It made sense to him to have grown a little, maybe, but this... he felt like he was twice the size of a natural birdeater, and even if that was an exaggeration, he was certainly bigger than an average cat. It was so strange and shocking - he had to look into his essence to see what was up, because sudden growth when he felt like he was at his max size was not natural, but for now, he would let the flood of relief grow through his body, replacing the green with a white tinted slightly with yellow. If he was growing, he would have to thank some deity, because being so small made him feel way more vulnerable than he now was.

Humming to himself aimlessly, the arachnid would gather up his shed skin, shifting it over to the left, occupying his time with a menial task that would take a while before the feeling of faint happiness could leave his body.

//tl;dr: he's bigger than a large domestic cat now
growth is still gonna keep up periodically, but that's gonna be his size for a couple days

tags - "speech"

From how often he heard "Jesus fuck" used seriously, he might as well start responding to it - not that specifically, but any phrase regarding Jesus seemed to be popularly used against him. This was exactly the sort of reaction he was hoping for, to be frank, the sort that made him let out a soft chuckle, turning to Vigenere with eyes large enough to peer into, even if Abby's were... somewhat higher up. "Greetings, subject Vigenere," he said, deep voice clear of the usual grumble that made him sound somewhat livid half the time, though perhaps his clearer voice could be chalked up to his expanded body. Was him being this big normal? Well no, technically, by the laws of nature and the biology of his species it wasn't normal, but outside of technicalities... "Yes.
Subject Abathur, potentially growing to natural size." He got a kick out of imagining Vigenere's reaction to the idea that he was still growing - that'd certainly be fun.

The person with the most affinity for him - as far as he could tell, at least - had arrived now. His sister in arms, a comrade in the field of mad science, someone he could probably rely on, even if just a little bit. "Subject Aya," the spider said, taking in her reaction to his size. He wasn't even that impressive, really - he hadn't modified his carapace or limited musculature to allow him to bend his limbs in whatever way he pleased, he hadn't modified his chitin to change color at will, he hadn't done any of that. And yet she still seemed in awe at the size of him - he wasn't light-years or anything, but he'd gladly take what he could get, basking in appreciation like a cat did the sun. "No, growth, incidental - must research own essence for possible mutations, side effects. Still, enjoy size very much."

Now that he was somewhat sizeable and likely still growing, he looked back on his view towards Tanglewood, and realized that maybe part of the innate distaste he had for the swamp was his natural instincts telling him to run, every motor in his body wanting him to get out of there and find somewhere where the people he could eat were a little bit smaller. Those instincts were dulled, though, and as he thought about Tanglewood he realized that, even if it wouldn't measure up to where he last lived, he could still make it a home.

tags - "speech"

He hadn’t been the kindest to Abathur. When he was trying to move his stuff into his house, Abathur had merely asked if Leroy needed help, only to get the response of a loud swear and a partial panic attack. It wasn’t the arachnid’s fault, the wolfhound had always been squeamish around spiders, even in his adult years. It was something about the unholy amount of legs, or it could be the abnormal amount of eyes, or it could by those fangs. He was used to squishing spiders beneath his paw, so, needless to say, he was aghast when Abathur strolled by that day.

He needed to say something. Anything. The actions of others over the past few days rendered much more sorrowful than he needed to be. Leroy was living the dream, surrounded by others that protect him as long as he does the same for them, and he was taking it for granted, vilely treating others as if they were the pebbles, and he was the stone. Wait, was that a good analogy? No matter.

He’d gulp, then pace out towards the much larger-than-before spider. "Way t’ go," he’d begin awkwardly, ”keep showin’ them little spiders who’s boss.”