[ WEIRDOS STICK TOGETHER ❧ ABATHUR ]

[guts]

Currently, she was looking around town for something.

She padded through the rows of houses, peering in between them and glancing through windows as she walked past, ears perked and alert. What was she looking for, exactly? It wasn't hard to spot.

A giant spider was hard not to notice, after all. She was looking for him because she had quite a few questions for him. She was a curious one, and when she didn't have answers, she went looking for them. She was passionate in everything she bothered to care about. Maybe she wasn't that intelligent most of the time, but she made up for it in her determination.

Since he was apparently sluggish this time of year, it hopefully wouldn't be hard to find him.

Once she did, Adelaide would grin wide, long legs carrying her towards Abathur with her tail waving behind her. "Hey, hello!" she greets him eagerly, coming to a stop beside him. "Abathur, is it? Lovely day today, isn't it! I was wondering if I could ask you some questions? I'm just curious, because I've never seen anything like you!"

Did she mind if she was being a bother? Not really. If he brushed her off, she would just have to insist, or wait until another day.

[member=1431]ABATHUR .[/member]

[ABATHUR .]

Walking was an exercise for him nowadays.

That may sound obvious - of course walking was an exercise, everyone knew that. However, he thought of it not as an exercise in the sense that it burned calories or kept him healthy (which he was quite sure it didn't really; unlike humans, his health condition was not so volatile, mostly since his diet was quite restrictive and he didn't have much in the way of muscles), but rather as a mental exercise, an exercise in keeping himself moving during winter; Abathur thought such thoughts to himself with startling frequency recently, silent self-reminders as to why he was doing this, why he should bother walking around when there was a perfectly insulated house waiting for him.

The reason was simply so he didn't give up.

He had never had any problem with motivation in the past, yes, but he didn't want to chance it - after all, he had also not been part of a massive group like this in the past, a region of people who treated him with... respect? It seemed like respect, from what he understood respect to be. At the very least they weren't trying to stamp out his life, to eradicate him, as if he was an oversized pest. He shuddered quietly at that thought, before he felt something - a set of pawsteps he hadn't felt since the border a few days ago, walking in a manner that absolutely had to be searching. He knew how to detect the slight changes in pressure from how people were standing and things like that from the subtle vibrations in the earth, and he had much experience with people seeking him out. He almost considered hiding himself away, when, before he could act on baser impulses, a familiar voice hit his hairs.

Slowly, the spider turned - in reality, he was moving as fast as he could, but the arthropod understandably had trouble with pivoting around - and looked Adelaide in the eyes, listening silently to see what she had to say. At first, he was utterly baffled as to why someone would seek him out specifically, but she answered that question with a question of her own, leaving him in peace.

Sort of - the spider still felt something close to disappointment that she wasn't just interested in talking to him, although he would A) never admit it and B) didn't understand it himself.

So he began responding to her, from the top. "Greetings, subject Adelaide. Yes, am Abathur Everman. No, weather is awful today. Yes, subject can ask questions." Four simple sentences, short and snappy, cold and to the point, robotic in tone and delivery, yet still maintaining an odd sense of personality to them; despite the deep monotone, you truly could tell that he was alive, and not just some automaton.

After he was silent for a few seconds, the spider would pipe up again, this time elaborating by saying, "Always recommend subjects indulge in curiosity - knowledge, important to bettering selves, in long run." Apparently, he was a natural at spouting off his own life philosophies; it was something he enjoyed doing, even without realizing it was good for interaction

tags - "speech"

[guts]

She was delighted when given the go-ahead to ask him all the questions that were left unanswered that day they first met. Before she can, though, he continues on with stating his belief about knowledge. The words resonated deep in her and she found a grin breaking out on her face.

"I definitely agree! My mother always told me 'knowledge is power,' so I always try to learn as much as I can!" she says cheerfully, tail wagging. She would have never thought they had something in common. Sometimes, even though they talked and everything, she forgot these animals were pretty much just like humans: they had their own thought processes, believed certain things, just like they did. She was still trying to wrap her mind around all of it.

Thrown off topic, Ade has to take a moment to get back on track. She wastes no time once she does. "Alright. My first question is, are your fangs venomous? Well, more venomous than most spiders', should I say. Are they your only form of defense?" she doesn't want to overwhelm him all at once, so she asks whatever she's most curious about.

Adelaide knew pretty much all spiders were venomous to some degree, but she had no idea how that boded for a giant one. She wondered if he was a specific species of spider, one that was more venomous than others.

//sorry it's short aa

[ABATHUR .]

[don't apologize; just write as much as you want and i'll do the same, yeah?]

"Power, inconsequential," the spider muttered darkly to himself, an offhanded remark, simply speaking without really thinking while his interrogator talked. It was rare that he spoke so quickly - normally he would take his time, a second or two or more, to think, to mull over a 'proper' response. It was a habit he hadn't shaken in the relatively short amount of time he had lived here in Tanglewood.

The venom question caught him off guard, though he supposed he should have sawn it coming. It made sense for anyone to be worried about what it could do to them, or even morbidly curious about it. He just hadn't really thought about it. He saw it as a tool for hunting, and he never wanted to hunt people yet - he had been hunted down himself for most of his life, various attempts to kill him leaving him both mentally scarred and strong. He would never forget, but he considered himself a grown spider - he wouldn't let their actions get in the way of his development, his evolution.

"Have paralytic effect - prevent prey from struggling. Allows easier killing." He said, firstly, lifting his chelicarae up so that his fangs were more visible, for emphasis. "Primary defensive tool, however, is fear. Do not need to bite, only need to threaten to bite - opens opportunity for escape." His speech was, while smooth as ever, addled with the underlying current of first-hand experience, as if he knew what he was talking about. "Always retreat from open combat. Dislike fighting, and function better with element of surprise. However," as he continued talking, he lowered his fangs again, shifting his stance slightly to lower himself to the ground, "if self needs to defend self and cannot run, consider silk more useful than fangs. Fangs give threat of biting, can cause pain, yes, but silk is incredibly versatile, and can spin many varieties of strands, including adhesive. Very useful."

tags - "speech"

[guts]

Well, she was certainly glad the two of them were on the same side. She would hate to have to face off against the spider, especially given her lack of fighting expertise. All she truly knew how to do in this world was heal, and even then her knowledge was limited, experience next to none.

She leans in when he lifts what would be considered his jaw, peering closely at the large fangs that resided there, an intrigued grin spread across her maw. "Interesting!" she mutters, mostly to herself. She listens as Abathur goes on, finding herself nodding in agreement with his aversion to fighting. It had never been her thing, either, even when she had decided to become a medic in the military. Maybe she could have been a normal civilian doctor, but she had a taste for adventure, one that didn't die down when she saw the carnage of war.

Personally Adelaide had never found an interest in arachnids, but she would make an exception for the giant variety. It was still fascinating to hear about his ability to weave silk. "In that case, do you ever weave webs, like ordinary spiders? Do you use them to catch prey?" She had yet to see any large webs strewn about, but that didn't mean much. "Also, what does your diet consist of?" she asks, even though she already had her assumption. He likely ate whatever prey was to be found in the swamp, but, for the sake of learning, she would ask anyhow.