I entered my shelter, removed the items that were still strapped to my back, and simply tossed them in the corner. The blanket joined them. I then exited it again and walked up to the wall that was parallel to Cellestra’s home.

I imagined that adding silk to the roof would be the most efficient way to make sure it was waterproof.

I elevated my human torso by straightening my massive legs. I could easily tower over Cellestra’s house if I wanted to. From up here, I had a great view of the silken roof.

I started adding a layer of silk as darkness completely enveloped the world. Thanks to the blessing, my elven eyes could also see extremely well in the black of night. I had no issues with my eyesight while I worked.

Predictably, the process was draining. Perhaps it was even more so now that my silk didn’t seem to be as strong anymore. It was a bit thinner, which meant I needed to create more. I was about to finish when I felt the first drop of rain hit my face. I quickly closed the last bit of a gap that I saw and scurried back inside the nest.

At this point, I was completely exhausted, but at least I would be dry for the night.

I laid myself down on the horizontal web and looked closely at the braids that Cellestra had made in my spider hair. As much as I liked her handiwork, I planned on sleeping on my back, and the braids would make it uncomfortable, so I undid them. It was hard to reach all of them with my human hands as I could only turn my torso so much, but my legs helped out.

In the meantime, rain started falling onto the silken roof, and I paid close attention to see if there were any leaks. Once I was confident there weren’t, I made myself as comfortable as I could by resting my elven back on my head and thorax behind it. I grabbed the blanket with a pedipalp and tossed it on top of my torso.

This body truly was weird.

It was also so soft and fluffy…

Was it weird that I enjoyed this softness?

I closed my eyes and spread the blanket out properly. The sweet comfort of my own body was hard to resist. As I was drifting off, I thought about Cellestra. I hoped with all my heart that she would have a good night’s rest. The trickling of the rain outside soon carried me off to sleep.

Something awoke me when everything around me was still dark. I felt vibrations in the web on which I was resting. I was wondering what was going on when I saw Cellestra on the web. She was standing on top of it and seemed to be searching for something on the wall of her home, her hands running over the bricks.

What was she doing?

“Cellestra?” I asked, whispering.

When no response came, I called out her name again, slightly louder this time.

Was she… sleepwalking?

This poor soul…

I placed a leg on each of her shoulders and called out her name with my normal voice while shaking her gently. I didn’t want to cause a rude awakening.

Cellestra suddenly stopped moving and turned around. She was shivering. It was then I noticed that the rain outside was still ongoing. It seemed the elf got the full brunt of it. I raised my elven torso so I would have an easier time speaking to her.

I’d apparently succeeded in waking her up as she started looking around and speaking with a cracked voice.

“Wha? What… where…”

“Shhh,” I tried to soothe her. “You were sleepwalking, I think.”

“Where am I?” She asked.

“Easy, Cellestra. Come, sit down.” I gently guided her with my legs so she would sit down on the webs next to my head. Her form was still shivering and I used my blanket to dry her off as best I could. I then summoned a small flame to provide some light and warmth to the elf. I had to be careful with it as I didn’t want to set my webs aflame.

“Are you okay?” I asked the utterly confused elf. It seemed she still had no idea what was going on.

“Kealyna? How did I—”

“You’re in my shelter,” I said as I wrapped the slightly damp blanket around her.

I gave her a few minutes to get to her senses, during which she did nothing but stare at the web in front of her feet.

“You’re safe here. How are you feeling?” I ultimately asked.

“I think I am fine now. What happened?”

“You were sleepwalking and wandered in here. From the way you were moving your hands over the wall, you seemed to be searching for something.”

“I don’t remember any of that,” she said softly.

“That’s okay,” I replied in an equally soft voice. “By the goddess, you’re still shivering. Will you be okay?”

I waited for a reply, but when it didn’t come, I moved myself closer to her and placed my head on the webs next to her. I then pulled her against my soft hair. I then put a hand on her head to cast healing light twice. I reckoned her curse was to blame for her sleepwalking.

Maybe she sleepwalked into here, subconsciously knowing that I could help with it?

I didn’t know. It seemed not too far-fetched.

After a minute or two, her shivering stopped. My fur coat seemed to do wonders in that regard. I took my blanket and put it over her frame. I wouldn’t need it nearly as much as her. Finally, I placed two legs over her and the blanket, as if to keep her safe.

I didn’t know why I did that. I just… felt like it.

“Just go back to sleep, alright?” I said with a whisper.

No response came, and I bent my elven torso to take a closer look. When I did that, I could see, and hear, her snoring softly. She’d fallen asleep again.

Poor Cellestra. She must have been exhausted.

I extinguished the flame spell that had remained active in mid-air. I seemed to have no trouble keeping the spell exactly where I wanted it as long as I wasn’t too far away from it.

I took one last look at the elf’s sleeping form before laying myself down on top of my far too soft body. Only then did the realization strike me that everything I’d felt so far about Cellestra had been intensified tenfold. Taking care of her had brought it to new heights. Yet I hadn’t noticed until just now. It was probably for the better. I did not want to make my feelings clear to her… yet.

I held Cellestra close as I started drifting back to sleep.

The next time I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that Cellestra was no longer here. Moreover, the blanket I’d used to keep her warm was now covering my body again. I was certain that the elf had done that when she left my shelter.

I yawned and stretched my arms as I tossed the blanket to the side. My elven eyes somehow seemed to accumulate sleep crust whereas my spider eyes didn’t. I raised my torso, rubbed the crust out of my eyes, and made my way outside by walking backward.

Once outside, I noticed the giant wooden tub a few yards out of Cellestra’s home again. Although it was still empty, I had an idea what it was going to be used for. We’d talked about this yesterday, after all.

Just as I skittered up to it, the door to Cellestra’s home opened, and its inhabitant stepped out with a glass bottle filled with a green liquid.

“Morning, Kealyna,” Cellestra said cheerfully.

“Look who’s doing much better than last night,” I replied with a sly smile.

“Yeah. I owe you one for that. I had the best night’s sleep in days.”

“I noticed.”

“Anyway,” Cellestra continued. “You’re not hungry or anything, I hope?”

After I shook my head, the elf’s face formed a wide smile. “Alright then,” Cellestra spoke. “Would you mind filling this tub with water for me? I wanted to do it myself first, but I’d have to go back and forth between the stream quite a lot, and since you can do it with a spell…”

“No problem,” I replied. “Let me see if I can control the summoned water’s temperature.”

I placed my spider head on the ground in front of the tub and held out my hand, my palm facing down. I then started channeling a stream of water, about two thumbs thick, into the tub. I placed a finger from my other hand in the stream and concluded that it was also pleasantly warm.

I was glad to see that I could control the amount and the temperature of the summoned water, although, as expected, it did cost me more mana this way.

The tub was filled in no time. In the meantime, Cellestra had knelt next to it and had also drawn the conclusion that it was nice, warm water; excellent to wash one’s hair with.

After I stopped channeling my spell, Cellestra spoke up with a smile.

“Thank you, Kealyna. Allow me to repay you for your help last night.”