#spidering

Newt climbed into the suitcase before Jacob, to get to his large sanctum. Now, Jacob had been in the suitcase a few times now, and was no longer as scared of the creatures. Though this was in part due to Newt desensitizing him to the creatures, Newt still found it very helpful having another helper in his suitcase occasionally. 

Besides: This time, Newt had a large amount of tasks to do today. He had to feed the creatures, tend to the Grindylow’s, and add more empty light bulbs to the Light bulb habitat. The first two tasks were standard stuff he did on the daily. But the light bulb task? Not so much. What happened was, Newt had recently brought more glow worms into his suitcase. As a result, he needed to provide the glow worms more light bulbs to make sure each one has its own to thrive in. 

With Jacob on board, all of these tasks were done in the matter of an hour. 

But unbeknownst to Jacob, Newt had saved his favorite task for last. 

“Where are we now?” Jacob asked. 

“We’re in another habitat I made especially for the Acromantulas.” Newt told him. 

“What are acromantulas?” Jacob asked. 

“I guess in your world they would be called spiders.” Newt explained. 

“O-Oh…” Jacob froze up with nervousness. “S-Spiders?” 

“Oh…Right, are you nervous around spiders?” Newt asked him. 

“Uh- Oh! No no no.” He shook his head and scoffed, waving his hand. “Nah, I’m not bothered by them. They’re small little things. Easy to deal with.” He told him. 

“Okay good.” Newt told him. “The mother was expecting, and eggs were pretty much ready to hatch last I checked.” Newt told him, leading him through the big habitat. 

Jacob could feel the anxiety worsening with every sentence. “D-Did you s-say…B-Babies?” Jacob asked. 

“Yup.” Newt replied. “And if I’m correct, then the babies should’ve hatched this morning.” Newt climbed up a rock, and landed on the ground in front of it. “Which means I need to introduce myself.” Newt told him. 

Jacob let out a shaky breath. “Oh boy…” He mumbled, patting his forehead with a handkerchief. The man was visibly nervous. 

“They’re currently residing in a habitat somewhat similar to where the Nundu resided.” Newt told him. “Only difference was, this rainforest looked more like the rainforests in Indonesia.” He told him. 

Jacob bit his lip. “Uh huh?” 

Newt kept going. “Though I would normally try to save room by putting the Acromantulas into the Nundu habitat, the mother was expecting babies at the time.” Newt explained. “And you can probably imagine my fear of the Nundu killing the Acromantula couple in their most vulnerable state.” Newt explained. 

Newt and Jacob finally reached the nesting grounds of the Acromantula family. 

“OOOoohmygod they’re huge…” Jacob muttered. 

“RIght, forgot to mention that. They’re quite giant.” Newt mentioned. “Also, please keep a good distance from them. Humans are their prey, and you’ll be caught if you’re not careful.” Newt told him. 

“Oooookay…” Jacob moved a good 20 feet away, and sat himself down on a rock. “I’m gonna need a second…” He muttered. 

“Take your time.” Newt told him from the nest. Newt looked up to the Acromantulas and petted the mother’s head quite gently. “Hello big girl.” Newt greeted. “Doing well now?” He asked. And there, on the mother’s back, were all her babies. “And look at all of you…” Newt looked at all the babies. “A large litter of spiderlings.” Newt reacted. “Hello little guys.” Newt greeted. “How many have we got here?” He asked aloud. “I think there might’ve been up to 50 spiderlings per egg.” Newt said. 

“F-fifty…” He mumbled, his face growing more and more white. 

“I believe so.” Newt said. “And that’s relatively low compared to most egg sacs.” Newt added. He placed his hand under one of the spiderlings, and picked it up. “Look at you…” Newt held the spider in both his palms “You’re a healthy one, aren’t you?” Newt reacted calmly. 

“S-So…Y-you’re not afraid of th-them?” Jacob asked. 

“Not even a little. They’re absolutely fascinating to me.” Newt told him, reaching his hand up and placing the spiderling onto the Acromantula’s back. “The spiderlings themselves are relatively harmless.” Newt unbuttoned his coat as he walked up to Jacob. “Can you take this?” He asked, handing him the blue coat. 

“S-Sure.” Jacob said, taking it for him, before checking vigorously for any spiders hidden in the coat. But the pockets were relatively empty besides his wand.

“The spiderlings are rather curious little creatures.” Newt admitted, placing his hand onto the back of the Acromantula mother. “Wanna see how I get them used to me?” Newt asked. 

“S-Sure! Sure.” Jacob admitted, trying to put on a brave face again. 

“Are you sure? I will warn you, it’s a little scary to watch if you’re scared of spiders.” Newt admitted. “But I assure you, they’re quite harmless.” He reminded him. 

“Yeah, I wanna see what you do.” Jacob replied. 

“Alright.” Newt unbuttoned 2 of his top buttons before placing his hand onto the Acromantula’s back. 

Jacob watched as a bunch of the spiderlings crawled onto Newt’s hand, and down his arm to his shirt. Though Jacob was horrified at first, he calmed slightly when he saw Newt’s eager, crooked smile. It looked like a bunch of the spiderlings were moving down his arm and both into, and on top of Newt’s shirt. 

“Ihit’s been forever since I fehelt thihis.” Newt admitted, letting a few giggles slip. 

Jacob, to be frank, was a little perplexed. “Felt what?” He asked. 

“Sihince Ihihi fehelt-” Newt’s arm began to pull away from the spider’s back as bits of giggles and laughter left his mouth. “Hehehehe- HahahaHA!” 

Jacob dropped his jaw. “Are you okay?!” He stood up from the rock with his eyes widened. “You look like you’re gonna fall any second!” 

“S-Stahahay bahack, Ihi’m fine, ihihihi’m fihine!” He told him. “Ihihi’ll just-” Newt carefully laid himself down onto the ground to save himself from injury. “Thehehere.” He said. When Newt was on his back, the spiderlings seemed more than happy to truly explore their first human. “Ohohokahay, GAHAHAhahahaha! Gohohoho nuhuhuts!” 

“Ohoho my god!” Jacob reacted, watching the whole thing. “Is this a normal occurrence for you?!” Jacob asked him. 

“Hahahaha! Sohometihihimes! D-Dehehepehends ohohohon the spihihiderlihihings.” Newt admitted. 

“So you just let them…tickle you?” Jacob asked. 

“Ihihit nohormally doesn’t tihickle thihihis bahad!” Newt admitted. “Ihihi dihihidn’t ehexpehehehect thihihis!” 

Jacob watched on as Newt was continuously swarmed by spiders, and presumably explored. But it looked more like the spiderlings were doing more tickling than exploring. Jacob could only imagine that this type of exploration was supposed to tickle. But if that was the case, then why didn’t Newt mention this before?! 

Although, we are talking about the same person who didn’t mention that Acromantula’s are a million times bigger than muggle-spiders. 

“Cahaharefuhuhul! Ohoho jeeeheeheeheez…” Newt muttered. It was clear he was beginning to realize the situation he willingly put himself into. 

“Oh god…” Jacob seemed to realize this too. “Do they know when to stop?” Jacob asked. 

“Ihihihi dohohon’t- AAHAHAA! Ihi dohohon’t knohohow!” Newt admitted, rolling onto his left side. Unfortunately for Newt (And fortunately for Jacob), Newt had rolled towards Jacob…meaning Newt’s bright smile and giddy face was completely visible to his new friend. 

Gosh, just seeing the joy on Newt’s face was enough to make Jacob laugh. “Ohoho geez! Hahahaha! Thihis ihis awesohome!” He reacted. 

Newt covered his face with his hands. “Shuhuhut uhuhup…” Newt whined. 

This only made Jacob laugh even more! “Dihid you just whine like a child?!” Jacob asked him. 

“Nohohohoho…” Newt whined in the exact same tone. 

“Wohohow…You even lie like one too!” Jacob reacted. 

“STAHAHAP!” Newt shouted at him. 

“Okay, okay!” Jacob put his hands up in arrest. “Is there anything I can do to help? Anything at all?” Jacob asked. 

“Plehehehease hehehelp mehehehe!” Newt pleaded. 

“Ah-” Jacob looked at the mother. “I don’t think I can, Newt…” One little snippet of information rang through his head: 

[ “Please keep a good distance from them. Humans are their prey, and you’ll be caught if you’re not careful.” ] 

Remembering this, Jacob knew he couldn’t come closer for fear of the mother eating him. But his friend was gonna die of laughter if he didn’t do anything…

Suddenly, the spiders paused their exploring! They just stood there in place. They didn’t even flinch! 

And then, as if nothing happened, all the spiderlings crawled off of Newt. While Newt laid limp on the ground, the spiders all crawled up their mother’s leg and onto their mother’s back again. How they knew to do that, Jacob had no clue. 

Jacob ran up to Newt and knelt down to help him. “Newt! Are you okay?” 

Newt was laying there, giggling with a permanent smile on his face. “Goodness…Thahat wahahas…” Newt giggled a little more. “Tohohoo much.” He said, sitting himself up. 

“Let me getcha up.” Jacob took his hand and pulled him onto his feet. When he was up, Jacob wrapped Newt’s arm around his shoulders, and helped him walk. “You okay, buddy?” 

Newt giggled and snorted. “Never betteher.” Newt muttered.