Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a dark night in the gemberry woods, and a certain raven was feeling glum, because they had had the most terrible day today.

So now, they were sitting by a pond, gloomily staring at their reflection.

“Why was I born to suffer…”
They say. “Why does the universe hate me…”

Just then, they hear someone walking up beside them, glancing at them.

It was none other than one of the newer critters, and the one they were one of the closest to, Websly the writer spider.

“Oh… hi Websly.”
Poe says.

“Hello Poe.”
The arachnid says, sitting next to them. “What are you doing here?”

Poe sighs.
“Oh, the usual.” They say. “Contemplating my existence, wishing I were dead, same old same old.”

Websly looks sad.
“What’s wrong?” He says.

Poe sighs.
“Well, I've just had a pretty awful day today…”

Websly puts one of his many arms around their shoulder.
“What happened?”

Poe leans on his shoulder, telling him all about their day.

“Well, this morning, when I woke up, I fell out of bed, then I ran out of blackberries for breakfast, then when I went to pick more, I fell into a thornbush.”

Websly winces. “Oh dear…”

Poe continues.
“Then, once I'd FINALLY gotten back home after picking all the thorns out of my feathers, I was all ready to enjoy a nice day of writing and eating blackberry truffles, when my curtain rod broke and fell off of the wall.”

Websly gasps. “Oh no…”

Poe nods. “So the whole day, I was forced to be showered in the blinding light of the putrid sun while going to get a new one, all the while ignoring that stupid sunny hellhound that insists on playing with me.”

Websly rubs their back sympathetically.

Poe sighs. “And if all that wasn’t enough, when they finally got the curtain fixed and sat down to write, their favorite quill pen broke AND they ran out of writing ink. And after ordering more, it won't be here for another few days.”
They finish.

Websly pulls them closer, humming a bit.
“Geez, you went through the wringer…” they say. “Hopefully tomorrow will be better.”

Poe humphs.
“I doubt it…” they say. “I might be cursed with bad luck.”

Websly giggles. “Oh come now, there’s no such thing as bad luck, you just had an off day.”
He says. “It happens to the best of us.”

Poe continues to sulk, staring down into the pond.

Then Websly gets an idea, smirking.

“I think I know a way to help you feel better…”
He says.

Poe glances up at him.
“Oh yeah?” They say. “What’s that…?”

Websly takes Poe’s chin in one of their many hands, making them blush.

“This.”

Websly says before kissing them softly on the lips, and making them turn from black to red.

A few seconds later, they melt into it, wrapping their wings around Websly’s neck.

The two kissed passionately for a few moments under the light of the moonlight.

When Websly pulls back, he looks deeply into the still-blushing Poe’s eyes.

“Feel better?”
He says, smirking.

Poe glances off to the side.
“Maybe… a little bit…”

Websly laughs, wrapping all 6 of his arms around Poe in a tight hug.

“I love you, buttercup.”
He says, kissing them on the head.

Poe buries their face in his shoulder.
“Love you too…”
They whisper.

Even though their day had gone terribly, when they were here, all wrapped up warmly in their lover’s 6 arms, maybe it hadn’t turned out so bad.