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jeanniebug623 · 1 month ago

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By Eywa, internet loves…it’s been too long. Work, life, health, passing of loved ones…I’m so tired these days. Please enjoy some fluff before, you know, the story hits its peek… 💙🐞

🕸️🕷️ Weaving the Web 🕷️🕸️

Chapter 24: Familiar Faces

Spider stayed quiet and rigid the entire flight to the forest. Quaritch tried to spur conversation with his son but ended up just asking a lot of yes or no questions when anything more resulted in awkward silence. Obviously, his hand hurt like hell but it didn’t stop the colonel from keeping it on his son’s shoulder for some grounding comfort. They didn’t go far outside past the walled kill zone but he hoped being surrounded by all that green would start to perk the kid up.

”There ya go, tiger.” Quaritch said as he coaxed Spider of Cupcake’s back when he shied away, hiding his face in the hood of his sweatshirt. He frowned at the glisten of sweat he could see on Spider’s face. The kid NEVER wore long sleeves or pants outside and Quaritch couldn’t blame him given the heat and humidity. He put on a comforting smile as he pulled Spider’s hood back and remarked, “You gotta be melting, kid. Come on, you’ll feel better with some fresh air and a new coat of paint.”

Spider nodded in agreement but, instead of taking off his sweatshirt, just started to wander around and look for a Spartan fruit plant. Quaritch frowned a bit as he watched his kid from behind but let it go. He wasn’t going to rush him. Glancing down at his gloved hand, hiding the wound, he tested the injury by slowly gripping a fist a few times. He stopped before Spider caught him and went about searching the other direction the boy had gone.

It didn’t take long for them to find enough fruit to dye all of Spider blue. Before he could start peeling the purple skin back, Quaritch asked, “Isn’t there a way to make it last longer?”

“Hm?” Spider mumbled as he looked up. It was the closest thing to a word the kid had said since the night before.

”Well, it seems to wash off pretty quick lately, so…” Quaritch said, as he casually glanced around the surrounding forest, “But you were blue for a pretty long time in the beginning.”

”Oh…” Spider said sheepishly and shrugged, “It’s ok…”

”Nah, let’s make ‘em last in case I get sent out on another mission.” Quaritch suggested, pocketing his harvested fruit.

”Are you?” Spider said suddenly and whipped his head up to meet his father’s eyes for the first time since staring him down with manic terror in his own eyes and a knife to the recom’s throat. This poor kid. His eyes were still red from crying and lack of sleep and now they glistened with fear. He knew it could happen. His father was still an RDA attack dog.

”Nothin’ right now…but that could change at any time, you know that.” Quaritch said softly, “But hey, maybe you can tag along again one of these days.”

Spider’s gaze dropped and he looked away. He would love to do that. To get out of Bridgehead for more than just a few hours? Get away from doctors and prying eyes and Nash MCosker? He wanted nothing more than to be just one of the squad! But he hadn’t been in contact - not even SEEN - a Na’vi since he was first captured. What would his response be given Miles’ strong hatred towards…well, everyone?

”So…” Quaritch said as he cleared his throat and closed the gap between his son and himself to rest a hand on his head, “What’ll make these stripes really stick?”

”Oh…um…” Spider looked around for a few moments then pointed to a tree with smooth bark with a reddish hue, “Sap from those trees help…”

Quaritch ruffled his head with a nod and walked over as he drew his knife from his belt while saying, “Strip down to your skivvies while I do this. And drink some water, would ya? You’re beet red under the eyes.”

Spider was uncomfortably hot. Usually was, even in the air conditioned confines of the city, but felt less obvious and more ignored when he was dressed like a sky person and hiding his dreadlocked hair. Part of him didn’t even want him to get his stripes redone…even though he felt completely unlike himself without them. Whoever he thought he was at this point…

He watched his father stab deep into the tree then pull the knife down at an angle. The sap quickly started to flow and he knew they would only have some much time to combine it with the blue fruit juice before he set. He dropped the fruit he collected and turned away as he pulled the sweatshirt off over his head. He wasn’t so much shy as he was self-conscious…

Quaritch didn’t expect so much sap to flow so quickly and he looked around for something to catch it, “Hey, Spi-…”

The colonel found himself at a loss for words when he looked back to his son to ask what would be a good makeshift container for the sap. His question died in his throat at the sight of his son’s body. He knew Spider had been losing weight and muscle mass. He knew Spider hadn’t been eating or sleeping well. He knew all of the stress and medication was messing with the sixteen-year-old’s body.

But none of that rationale could soothe the heartbreak of seeing one’s son wasting away before their very eyes…

Quaritch was appalled, at no fault of his son’s, by how easy it was to see the dips between his ribs. When the boy turned to throw the sweatshirt over the closest breach, he could count each vertebrae of his spine between well-defined shoulder blades. The sharpness of his hips offered Quaritch no comfort when it was obvious the loincloth had been tightened significantly around the waist from slipping off. He quickly averted his eyes before Spider could catch him staring.

”What?” Spider asked, wondering what his father was going to ask. He did feel much better with the fresh air cooling him down. They locked eyes and Spider froze when he saw it in his father’s eyes. Pity . Of all things; one of the things he hated the most. He didn’t even notice he’d started raising his hand to trace where his stripes usually were on his forearm, even though that had proven a risky grounding technique.

Quaritch caught it before Spider’s nails touched his skin and said firmly with his ears flicking back, “Son…it’s alright.”

The colonel closed the gap between them and dropped to one knee to be at his eye level. Quaritch didn’t know how it was going to be alright, but it would be. He didn’t have the words for it, so he opted to show it instead. He placed his hands on his son’s shoulders. Ignoring how bony they were, he pulled Spider into a gentle hug. It was loose enough that he could pull away if he needed to.

But, to his surprise and relief, Spider wrapped his shaking arms around Quaritch’s thick torso and whispered, “I trust you…”

As much as they could have stayed like that for hours, they were on a time limit and not just because the sap was setting Quartich’s knife into the tree as it dried. Spider wove a leaf into a makeshift container and mixed the paint together. Quaritch watched the meticulous way he tested the consistency to get the right mixture.

When he was done, Spider immediately started painting stripes where he could see. He looked up with a confused look when his father took the paint and picked up where he left off. While Spider had gotten better at accepting his father’s help for the hard to reach places, he still didn’t like anyone other than Kiri helping him…some habits wouldn’t die.

”I got ya, kid, I won’t screw it up too bad.” Quaritch said with a chuckle to lighten the mood. He sure as hell was hoping he wouldn’t screw it up! Normally there was a faded pattern to trace but not this time. Not even a hint of blue remained. And that was his fault. Quaritch should have offered to take him out sooner, but Spider had been so reclusive and covering himself up that he had no clue his son was completely stripe-less.

Spider didn’t argue when his father started painting. He started on his back and Spider tried not to flinch at his touch or cringe when the recom’s fingers dipped in and out between his ribs. How much did he weigh now? Would be able to go back to the gym and try to build his muscle back up? Or go running in the forest or indoor track? He was just so tired all the time…in every definition of the word…

A little over an hour and a half passed, though to Spider he would’ve guessed only fifteen minutes given how quickly he zoned out. Quaritch watched him carefully and didn’t take offense when his son didn’t reply to his questions or small talk.

”Time for the face, tiger.” Quaritch said. Spider blinked out of trance and looked down at his body. When the hell did that happen? Quaritch was happy to see a smile tug at the corners of Spider’s mouth and suggested, “Or do you want to skip it? Do it back home so not to stress out your lungs.”

”No, do it here.” Spider said quickly. Even though everything gave him anxiety those days, going back to Bridgehead so soon sent a prickle through his body. He flushed red from embarrassment and said, “Please, ma sempul…”

Quaritch stared at Spider in shock. Had his son ever called him that…? Yes, he’d been calling him Koaktan and the translation of ‘old man’ made him smirk every time. Spider started chewing on the inside of his cheek when his father didn’t answer.

”Of course, son…” Quaritch said as he reached up to take hold of the mask, “Big breath.”

Quaritch worked as quickly as he could, stopping often - maybe too often giving Spider’s eye rolls - to let the boy get a breath. He didn’t find himself being as careful as he was with the other stripes. Maybe it was the irrational fear of his son suffocating after a few extra seconds without oxygen or that he was just straight up enjoying bonding over this that made him faster or slower. He was happy to say he was done after only fifteen or so minutes.

”Well, not too shabby…if I do say so myself.” Quaritch said with an approving nod.

”Yeah?” Spider asked before giving a welcome and mischievous little smirk, “I’ll be the judge of that…”

Quaritch feigned insult and stood, “All right, smart guy, c’mon then.”

Spider exaggerated his eye roll as he followed his father over to a pool of relatively still water aside from some water dripping off the mossy roots. Quaritch had a pretty smug expression of his own, ready to see his son’s awe at his amazing painting skills. The boy froze. His playful expression slowly faded away as he stared at his own reflection.

Something struck Quaritch. Given Spider’s, up until recently, hidden issue with someone writing warnings on the mirrors, would any reflective surface trigger a negative response? Or was the recom just that bad at painting his kid’s stripes?

”Spider? Don’t keep me hanging, kid, I’m awaiting judgment here.” Quaritch said, nervousness lacing his face. At least his tone sounded strong.

Spider continued to stare at his reflection, eyes darting around his father’s work. After nearly a minute of nothing, the teen ripped off his mask as he dropped to his knees and his father went into panic mode. Quaritch dropped to his own knees and tried to grab the mask to fix it back on Spider’s face. But he hugged it tight with one arm and placed the fingertips of his free hand to his face.

As scared as he was from his boy’s sudden actions, Quaritch didn’t try to grab the mask when Spider had pulled it away. His heart was rattling his ribs loose as he forced himself to just watch his son. Quaritch watched how the kid traced the lines on his forehead, cheeks, and jaw without saying a damn word. Goddamn, he really must have fucked it up…

“Spider, we can just scrub it off and start over…I’m sure we can find something to take it off quicker than waiting.” Quaritch said, disappointed in himself for screwing up something so simple and meant to make Spider feel better after the last several weeks. Especially the incident the night before.

Finally, the burning in his lungs from holding his breath and his father’s voice snapped Spider out of his trance. He fumbled slightly but replaced the mask and took several deep breaths. His father had a sad look on his face when he looked up at him with a bright, surprised expression.

”I look like you!” Spider exclaimed.

”Huh…? What d’you mean?” Quaritch asked, his ears perking up and his brows furrowed in confusion.

”These are your pil !” Spider said, looking back to his reflection again and running his fingers over the mask to trace the stripes again.

Quaritch was still confused. He leaned forward to get a better look at the kid’s face. Na’vi stripes were like fingerprints; they’d never seen a native look exactly the same as the one next to them. The colonel knew what his blue mug looked like but he didn’t put nearly that many stripes on Spider’s face. But the longer he looked…the longer he watched Spider trace over his stripes…the more Quaritch started to see the resemblance.

”Shit, son…” was all Quaritch could say. It was NOT his intention to pull influence from his own damn reflection that stared back at him every day. Was it an exact carbon copy of the recom? No, but he was seeing the stripes on his son’s face were almost exact to the more prominent of his own facial stripes. He opened his mouth to apologize and reassure Spider they could fix it, but he didn’t get the chance.

”I want you to do it again…next time.” Spider started softly, “Every time you do it. I want it to look like this…please. Is that ok?”

Of all the shock and awe the father and son had experienced in the last twenty four hours, this was the most unexpected and heartfelt. Quaritch wasn’t expecting Spider to say he wanted to look like him…even if it was just the boy’s way to feel more Na’vi and less human. The teenager had spent his whole life trying to separate himself from his roots. The roots that grew from seeds that came from the sky.

But even if the seeds came from the sky, the roots were deep in the soil of Pandora.

”Of course I can, son.” Quaritch said soothingly, running a hand back over his son’s hair. “We’ll make sure they never fade again.”

#atwow #atwow fanfiction #atwow spider #recom quaritch #spider quaritch #weaving the web #ao3 writer #long overdue

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