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Spider's Silk, in the best large ham voice she could muster, said, "What? Me? Shy? No. Never." Then, she broke down into hysterics and fell onto her back. Oh, man, that expression is priceless! It's those eyes. And that face. The tone of voice is great too. He's an excellent straight man.

Soon after, she got back up again and wiped her eyes dry. "W-Well," she said, stumbling over the words, "it isn't so much that as it was that I was just surprised."

She smiled back after he said her name. "Thank you. You wouldn't happen to be the same way, would you now? I know not with names, but I mean in general, do you like choices or what?"

Then, she put a paw on his good shoulder and said, "You know, I bet you could get famous and get your own fangirls, instead of having those skeezy ones who think you're someone you're not. You're funny and a real gentleman."

Spider's Silk covered her face with her paws. She felt like she could just melt. "Oh, you flatterer you!" She lowered the paw on her right eye, looked at him, and said, "You say things like that and you mean it." Then, she lowered the other. "I rather enjoy your company too, actually."

"So, where do we go from here? I don't think you want to stay here all day. But I don't really want you on your feet on account of your condition and all." She stopped and looked up in thought. Her eyes lit up when she finally got an idea. "Ooh! How about we go over to my place? I live here, so we won't have to walk far."

Someone honest like Grant was a breath of fresh air to Spider's Silk.

She was unsure of how to respond to the nipping, besides squealing. She really couldn't help herself.

Him talking about her being flirty made her laugh, since to her, he had seemed that way himself. "Maybe that was my intention. Well, that and I want you to have a fun day to balance out how it started. And it's great to hear you're fine with it. We can go right now then." After this, she began walking forward.

When her home came into view, she sighed in relief. "Thank goodness!" She could see that Skull Rabbit wasn't home now. She was glad. She didn't feel like explaining things to him, right now. "Boss man isn't back, yet. We'll have the whole place to ourselves." She had a bit of a scheming look on her face, like a hammy scientist from an old black and white movie.

She stopped in front of a tree and said, "Here we are! See, it was just like I said. Not far at all." It was the same kind of tree as the one she had been up in earlier that morning. The only difference was that this one had a hollow big enough for a family of a gladiers to sleep inside comfortably. When the weather was nice like this, she didn't spend much time at home. When she did, it was only to sleep in its branches. She only went inside when the weather was bad. She made an exception today, because she didn't want climb up the tree, while Grant was grounded.

"Come on in." After that, she went inside. It was minimalistic -- bare bones equally so. There was nothing there that wasn't naturally part of the tree. "It's like they say. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

"Yes, that sounds about right. He's my brother from a different mother. Sister from a different mister." She realized that last line came out sounding far more awkward than she intended. Darn me and my weakness for rhymes. She just cleared her throat and moved on.

"You're sharp. I'm plotting and scheming and all sorts of other good things. There's no need for you to worry, though. It's nothing bad." She wanted him to relax and enjoy his time here and her plans revolved around that. She wasn't sure how to go about it, though. What do they normally do? Eat? Talk? Stuff like that? She never had to entertain a guest before. The only ones that came here before were relatives. She thought today was shaping up to become a day of many firsts.

Awww, you're so sweet." She nuzzled him back. "I think that's true. I think you could learn a lot about someone from their home too. What do you think?"

She was caught off guard by Grant's reply. She didn't think it answered her question at all, but she didn't mind it. In fact, she liked it. But she didn't know how to respond. What am I supposed to do? Should I say something? No, not that. I'll just end up making myself sound barmy. Maybe I shouldn't do anything. I don't want to spoil the mood. I want to savor this moment.

Then, she decided it was time for actions, not words. Not a whole lot of words she could bungle up, anyway. She kissed him on his forehead and then said, "Me too." She felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

"That's fine. Just perfect!" She was overjoyed. That's it. I can die now. No, wait, scratch that. There are still quite a lot of things I want to do. Especially with him. She ran around the room and jumped up and down. When she took off, her feet made a boinging sound against the floor and when she landed, it made a distinctive twanging noise. She spoke too, but she didn't say any words. They were all, like, "Whoo-hoo!" "Wow!" and "Yip!"

She also didn't care how they met. She thought the ends justified the means. Most of all, she was damn glad she didn't mess up. Grant was just such an understanding and honest fellow and she loved him.

When the euphoria wore off, she looked like she had touched a Tesla coil. Her fur was all over the place. Since she wanted to ask him a serious question, she thought she should at least try to neaten herself up. She could only get her face to look presentable, but she gave herself an A for effort. That was enough for her purposes. "But where do we go from here?"

"Thank you. I don't even need a mirror with you around."

His response to her question surprised her. He made it all sound so easy. "Then, we'll go forward!" She punctuated her statement by pointing straight ahead. "But not before lunch. All of this excitement worked up my appetite."

After that, she walked around the room to look for something to eat. She knew the food was stored in an unlocked wooden chest. She also knew Skull Rabbit always buried it when it wasn't being used. All she had to do now was find the suspiciously fresh patch of dirt on the ground that stuck out like the X on the treasure map. "Ah, there it is!" Then, she dug it up, opened it, and looked inside. It was full of a variety of cheeses, individually wrapped chocolates, and a tall glass bottle of some foul, purple liquid she didn't like at all.

After this, she pushed the chest next to Grant. "Let's eat."

"Why, thank you! Aren't you the perfect gentleman." Spider's Silk pulled out a hunk of Abbaye du Mont des Cats. It was salty, but good. "Mmm!" She closed her eyes and relished its flavor. She stopped after she finished off half of it. Then, she locked eyes with Grant and proffered him the other half. "Do you want the rest? Hmmm... Or maybe you'd prefer that I feed you?" The last bit was accompanied with a smile worthy of the Cheshire Cat.