one of these days, she promises to herself, she'll be able to save her own butt. while she doesn't have a problem asking for help, she definitely feels some type of way about it, and often she fantasizes about being the person called for help instead of the damsel in distress. 

oh gosh, is that what she is?

webs are around her ankles, but she manages to toe oleg's head. the little alien slumbers on. she would fear the worst if it weren't for his annoying on and off beeps she's come to learn are his snores. 

"oh, right," she says, focusing again. "um, it's this really lovely house. the address was...oh gods, what was the number again. it's on sherman. in the cul-de-sac. um, it's really pretty! nice brick and these adorable arches. and there should be a couple of fancy people right outside, though i don't know why they can't hear me..."

because the house does not belong to posh bigwigs. they'd evaporated as soon as the door had clicked shut behind her. and the mansion itself is dilapidated and mouldering. at the very least, it's easy to spy as The Haunted house on sherman street. 

but unluckily for sasky, she doesn't pay enough attention to pull apart the illusion. 

skittering up the stairs. sasky starts to panic. her voice is shrill when she asks, "um, so, are you almost here?"

silverio delfino

☉

laughter bounces around the walls of the room. the skittering sound becomes more insistent and saskia manages to turn her webbed head just slightly to see the giant body of the ariados clambering back over to her. 

her toe knocks roughly against oleg's side as panic sets in for real. 

luckily for her, silverio makes it into the right house. unluckily for the both of them, that makes the ghosts that live here rather happy. the ariados pauses, head cocked, and traipses back over the webbing to scuttle up the side of the wall. 

it disappears out of sight. 

"oh my gods, you scared it away. i'm downstairs! downstairs! it's by the kitchen! the door, i mean! please, before it comes back! i swear, i'm gonna strangle oleg for being such a heavy sleeper."

silverio delfino

☉

the doorknob jimmies somewhere above her and she strains her neck, but she can't really see it. she tells herself it's just silverio - it has to be - but this place is really starting to get to her and she really is starting to worry that maybe oleg is worse off than she thought. 

so she yelps when the door splinters upstairs; her breath comes in short, shallow gasps, and stays that way even when she grins at the sight of silverio. 

the sandslash makes expert work of the web. one of her arms frees and then her leg and just as she's tottering off balance, the rest of the web giving way underneath her, silverio catches her in his arms. she 'oomphs' and wraps shaking arms around him, willing herself not to cry. 

"thank you," she hiccups. "thank you, thank you, thank you." 

she doesn't stay tangled in his embrace for long because she has to check on oleg. and, of course, as soon as she hauls the alien baby up in her arms, his bright green eyes flicker on. he swivels his head, yawns widely, and sasky squeezes him so tight his arms start windmilling. 

the light cast from the broken door shadows and saskia blinks. the hulking shape of the ariados leers down at them, mandibles chittering angrily. 

oleg squirms in saskia's hold, swivels to see the spider, narrows his eyes, and tosses it like a ragdoll with a wave of psychic energy. it comes crashing down the stairs and saskia darts forward, dodging flailing limbs so she can shove her shoulder against the spider's side. oleg beeps as though sasky has lost her mind.

"no! it's just a mama trying to feed her babies! the eggs. we can't crush the eggs." one of her boots is right next to one. they'd narrowly missed crushing half a dozen of them, but the ariados is still an ariados and it doesn't understand sasky's compassion.

she ducks under a sweeping appendage.

"silv, we gotta - ack!" another dodge. the spider's carapace is kind of hairy and super extra icky, but if she lets go, she'll get clawed apart by those strong limbs. "do something!"

silverio delfino

☉

there is no doubt in her mind, even through the panic and anxiety racing through her veins, that he'll come up with some situation to help them. but he does more than that, and even though she has to dance around so his sandslash can dislodge some of the eggs, she's grinning stupidly from ear to ear. 

the ariados chitters and hisses as her eggs are moved, but saskia holds fast and when she spies silverio's leafeon advancing, she grits her teeth and tries as well as she can to keep soothing. 

eventually, when it's clear she can't gain any ground, her attacks become more halfhearted. saskia eases up carefully and dares to take a step back. an appendage flies out at her and she yelps, wincing, but psychic energy stops it at a struggle in midair. behind her, oleg has both hands flung out and whines with exertion. 

"look, look, they're right there. you can get to them!" she says, pointing, but the spider's battered form still can't stop. 

because they need food, saskia realizes and her heart plummets. 

with her hands free, she can finally reach for kirin's ball. it's a tight squeeze, and the wyrdeer bleats in bewilderment as soon as she pops out, but the point-blank hypnosis from her horns manages to lull the giant spider into sleep. 

saskia returns her quickly, not wanting her to feel anxious, and reaches shakily for silverio's arm. 

"thanks," she says breathily. "you saved my ass again. i know we gotta report this to hq, but gosh, i feel bad. i bet the ghost-types that live in this place were just trying to help her get some food."

silverio delfino

☉