Story: "Up the Water Spout" Part 15
Oct. 1st, 2014 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk,""kintsukuroi," and "Little and Broken, but Still Good."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Natasha Romanova, Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Betty Ross, Bucky Barnes.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mention of human trafficking and nonconsensual drug use. Slightly offstage sexual violence. Dubcon/Noncon.
Summary: Sometimes the Black Widow needs to hunt, and sometimes she needs help settling her personality afterwards. Uncle Phil arranges an extra ageplay session.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. BAMF!Black Widow. Black Widow is creepy. Spiders. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Nonsexual ageplay. Caregiving. Competence. Girl stuff. Toys and games. Gentleness. Trust. #coulsonlives
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14. Skip to Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20.
"Up the Water Spout" Part 15
Natasha tapped a finger thoughtfully on the arm of her chair. "Perhaps," she said. "Do you think ... could I ... would it be possible to keep a pet in the tower? Other than our fish in the common room?"
"I don't see why not," Phil said.
"Even a rather ... odd sort of pet?" Natasha pressed.
"I draw the line at reconstructed dinosaurs," Phil said dryly. More than one supervillain had fielded such things, and Natasha tended to admire them.
"I was thinking of a spider," she said, turning tentative now.
"While you may wish to discuss this with other housemates, a terrarium pet in your own quarters is well within the parameters for this household," JARVIS declared. "The Brazilian salmon pink tarantula is easy to keep, active enough to be visible, and Bruce seems to enjoy them judging from their presence in his file of images from Brazil. The pink toed tarantula is arboreal and builds interesting silk structures in which to hide, although it rarely shows itself for the same reason. The Mexican red knee is slow and docile, with vivid coloration. They move much the way you handled your puppet. Another Brazilian species, the giant white knee, does not hide and is noted for eating dramatically and noisily. You might find that a partial substitution for your own urges."
"Hm," Natasha said, a bright note of interest. She pulled out her Starkphone and used it to browse pictures of the different species.
"We're in New York," Phil said. "You could visit some pet stores and look at whatever they have. I'm sure there must be a wide selection here." Tarantulas still made him shiver, sometimes, but he would willingly tolerate that if it made Natasha happy.
"The species I named are all readily available and recommended for novice invertebrate keepers," JARVIS said.
"I think that I might enjoy taking care of something," Natasha said.
"Something that won't die, something that can defend itself," Phil said with a smile, quoting from Lilo & Stitch.
"Yes," said Natasha, "though perhaps not an alien spider."
The Avengers had faced their share of those too.
Natasha spent the next few days doing research. Happy drove her and Phil around the city for comparison shopping -- he turned out to have an interest in exotic pets. Evidently there had been a ferret.
They went to Jungle Jim's and the Arachnid Shack, along with a variety of general-purpose pet stores. That gave Natasha a chance to observe the different species of tarantula. As JARVIS had explained, they had quite diverse behaviors in addition to markings. The stores also carried a wide range of supplies, from terrariums and lights to furnishings such as sand, peat moss, and tree branches.
Natasha poked at the little pamphlets on pet arachnids, then turned up her nose. Peeking over her shoulder, Phil saw that JARVIS had cued her Starkphone with instructions from an actual zoo.
Before long, Natasha came home with her chosen tarantula and the makings of its habitat.
* * *
Notes:
Pets have many benefits. They can teach life skills, empathy, compassion, and nurturing.
Various tarantulas make good pets. There are tips on choosing and keeping one.
Phil's quote comes from Lilo & Stitch.
[To be continued in Part 16 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Natasha Romanova, Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Betty Ross, Bucky Barnes.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mention of human trafficking and nonconsensual drug use. Slightly offstage sexual violence. Dubcon/Noncon.
Summary: Sometimes the Black Widow needs to hunt, and sometimes she needs help settling her personality afterwards. Uncle Phil arranges an extra ageplay session.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. BAMF!Black Widow. Black Widow is creepy. Spiders. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Nonsexual ageplay. Caregiving. Competence. Girl stuff. Toys and games. Gentleness. Trust. #coulsonlives
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14. Skip to Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20.
"Up the Water Spout" Part 15
Natasha tapped a finger thoughtfully on the arm of her chair. "Perhaps," she said. "Do you think ... could I ... would it be possible to keep a pet in the tower? Other than our fish in the common room?"
"I don't see why not," Phil said.
"Even a rather ... odd sort of pet?" Natasha pressed.
"I draw the line at reconstructed dinosaurs," Phil said dryly. More than one supervillain had fielded such things, and Natasha tended to admire them.
"I was thinking of a spider," she said, turning tentative now.
"While you may wish to discuss this with other housemates, a terrarium pet in your own quarters is well within the parameters for this household," JARVIS declared. "The Brazilian salmon pink tarantula is easy to keep, active enough to be visible, and Bruce seems to enjoy them judging from their presence in his file of images from Brazil. The pink toed tarantula is arboreal and builds interesting silk structures in which to hide, although it rarely shows itself for the same reason. The Mexican red knee is slow and docile, with vivid coloration. They move much the way you handled your puppet. Another Brazilian species, the giant white knee, does not hide and is noted for eating dramatically and noisily. You might find that a partial substitution for your own urges."
"Hm," Natasha said, a bright note of interest. She pulled out her Starkphone and used it to browse pictures of the different species.
"We're in New York," Phil said. "You could visit some pet stores and look at whatever they have. I'm sure there must be a wide selection here." Tarantulas still made him shiver, sometimes, but he would willingly tolerate that if it made Natasha happy.
"The species I named are all readily available and recommended for novice invertebrate keepers," JARVIS said.
"I think that I might enjoy taking care of something," Natasha said.
"Something that won't die, something that can defend itself," Phil said with a smile, quoting from Lilo & Stitch.
"Yes," said Natasha, "though perhaps not an alien spider."
The Avengers had faced their share of those too.
Natasha spent the next few days doing research. Happy drove her and Phil around the city for comparison shopping -- he turned out to have an interest in exotic pets. Evidently there had been a ferret.
They went to Jungle Jim's and the Arachnid Shack, along with a variety of general-purpose pet stores. That gave Natasha a chance to observe the different species of tarantula. As JARVIS had explained, they had quite diverse behaviors in addition to markings. The stores also carried a wide range of supplies, from terrariums and lights to furnishings such as sand, peat moss, and tree branches.
Natasha poked at the little pamphlets on pet arachnids, then turned up her nose. Peeking over her shoulder, Phil saw that JARVIS had cued her Starkphone with instructions from an actual zoo.
Before long, Natasha came home with her chosen tarantula and the makings of its habitat.
* * *
Notes:
Pets have many benefits. They can teach life skills, empathy, compassion, and nurturing.
Various tarantulas make good pets. There are tips on choosing and keeping one.
Phil's quote comes from Lilo & Stitch.
[To be continued in Part 16 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-01 06:26 am (UTC)-Wynjara
Yay!
Date: 2014-10-01 06:56 am (UTC)I got some of the information from the linked articles about the advantages of each species. Some of it I know from personal observations. I don't keep arachnids but I do enjoy looking at them in pet stores. So there are ones that have interesting action, ones that are just gorgeous to look at, ones that build cool structures, and so forth. Some people want a really durable pet; others like the challenge of keeping delicates. It depends on what you find appealing.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-01 11:15 am (UTC)I've been enjoying the glimpse into how Natosha's psyche works
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-01 11:20 am (UTC)Although she's welcome to her pets, I'm with Phil on these things... [so not going anywhere near those links]
Although, kinda boggling at the idea of a ferret as an exotic animal, but I guess it is in NYC. [round here in yorkshire, every other kid has had one at some point.]
Emotionally
Date: 2014-10-01 01:50 pm (UTC)Why? Because that's the age when children become fascinated by taking care of something smaller/younger/more helpless than they are. (Yes, some kids hit the stage at 2, others later.)
It's /really/ encouraging to see, but Phil putting up with a tarantula is right on the edge of doing /too/ much for her, given the way you describe his reactions to those spiders in particular. I'd love to explore that in more depth later; is he being /too/ accommodating, at his own expense? What else are the others doing to return that level of accommodation to /Phil/?
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-01 02:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-01 02:50 pm (UTC)Plus its wonderful to see Natasha going out of the way to care for something. Kinda heart warming. :)
-RockafellaSaint
I'm curious now
Date: 2014-10-01 07:14 pm (UTC)Re: I'm curious now
Date: 2014-10-01 07:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-01 11:29 pm (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-10-01 11:50 pm (UTC)That's true. Given Phil's personality, I think he's also likely to take advantage of this to try wearing down his dislike of tarantulas. I may consider writing up that scene too.
>> Or is that a lesser grape ape? <<
Hmm, probably lesser. The original Grape Ape is cited at 40 feet tall, although his size varied in depiction. The ones I wrote about in "No Winter Lasts Forever" were more Hulk-sized.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-02 01:56 am (UTC)-songspinner9
thank you
Date: 2014-10-02 02:43 pm (UTC)I check for new chapters every day and I can always trust your writing to give me warmth and positivity.
I recently found myself in a great self-help internet forum for people suffering fom complex ptsd and neglect. I've been recommending your stories a lot and it seems like you're accumulating a lot of fans now.
thank you for being such a wonderful and kind human being and artist! you're spreading hope and encouragement :)
greetings from germany
anna
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-03 04:17 pm (UTC)And! Lilo & Stitch!!!
Thank you!
Date: 2014-10-04 06:38 am (UTC)She is just starting to realize what those are, and that she can pursue them, and how to do that.
>> And! Lilo & Stitch!!! <<
Yep, Phil Coulson is a great big geek.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2014-10-04 04:42 pm (UTC)Re: Thank you!
Date: 2014-10-04 05:34 pm (UTC)Glad I could help!
>> I wasn't really allowed to have very many interests while I was growing up because I had to raise my little brother, <<
0_o Okay, then you might find it useful to research adultification and parentification, where children are pushed into adult responsibilities that cost them many of their childhood experiences. I have linked some of the good resources in this series, and also in Polychrome Heroics particularly with the Danso & Family thread which begins with "The Ones Who Would Do Anything."
Read carefully, because while there is some good advice on how to recover, the material is overwhelmingly negative. This can be frustrating for people who have a close, positive relationship with their younger siblings. I have yet to find anything on "how to apply what you learned from adultification to personal growth" or much else that capitalizes on the benefits rather than bemoaning the losses. The positive and negative effects are equally real, and not in the same proportion for everyone.
>> but being in college 3000 miles away is fascinating because now I have time to explore the fact that I really like bones/wet specimen, and to start to research other things that I like.... <<
That's wonderful! You are fortunate to have that opportunity. Same places, I've linked resources on getting to know yourself too.
You might check your school's resources. Some colleges have activities or even counseling aimed at self-discovery because students are right at the age for that, and some do come from backgrounds where they didn't have the chance to do much of it earlier.
>> I can watch Gilmore Girls and crochet for 8 hours straight if I want to! And that's... both very exciting and slightly terrifying. <<
My best advice on that:
1) Learn time management first. If you were in charge of someone else, you've probably got at least some organizational skills that you can build on. Almost every college has handouts or a workshop or something on this topic because it's such a quintessential challenge of school life. Here's a really good introduction to time management.
2) Everything in moderation, including moderation. Most of the time, aim for balance -- but it's okay to marathon watch TV or to craft all day, if you've just finished a big project or you're depressurizing after finals. Rewards and relaxation are as important as getting the work done in the first place. You need time for yourself as well as socializing and studying.