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 ...]
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.