Elsian loved winter. The chilly wind nipping at your nose, the sound of fresh snow crunching under his boots, drinking hot cocoa by the fire while wrapping gifts, he adored it all and honestly? What wasn't to love? It was a time filled to the brim with no school and his family away from any and all work for at least a week. As far as he was concerned it was a trick question. Then again he was also usually dressed for the weather.

Well, maybe there was one bad thing.

The thing with traditions? Usually, there’s at least one bad one; it wasn’t anything harmful or embarrassing rather than a bit of an inconvenience and a tad annoying. Right now? It was mostly annoying; he’d been happily wrapping gifts for his mother before his Aunty and Dad had cheerfully claimed last minute shopping and dragging him along. Thank you very much. And okay, yes, it wasn't all bad. He could man up to that. It was a little fun & he had gotten some extra gifts too. But the problem didn’t lie with what they actually needed to buy! Oh no, the problem was the window shopping.

It was how he ended up in this situation, with frozen fingers and heavy bags in the snow. Underdressed he might add if his shivering body had anything to say about it and he found himself once again giving his dad a dirty look when he laughed at his misery. Apparently a sweater and scarf weren't quite enough in the snowing weather. Who knew?
“It’s not funny.”

His dad only looked more amused, turning away from the dancing figurines of the outside booth. “Again, you can have my coat.”

“But then you’ll be cold.” He grumbled.

“C’mon, go look at some of the shops. Stay where it’s warm while we finish up here, probably time we get going anyways,” he nudged the Gryffindor, ruffling his hair and earning an annoyed shout from Elsi, “Go on, I'll wait for your aunt here.”

“Alright…”he hesitated, turning to glance back once or twice before wandering off through the snow towards some of the other shops. He paused once or twice, eyeing up the joke shop and snatching up a book to send Sage for Christmas but otherwise kept moving until one of the more brutal bursts of wind seemed to go right through him, batting at his bags and practically slapping him with his scarf. Hissing he twisted away, scrambling for the nearest open doorway and dragging himself inside along with the dying howls of the frigid air.

It was warm. Warm and dry and blessedly not windy and Elsian sagged in relief. Eyeing up the store it was rather obvious it was a pet shop he’d seen a few times in passing, empty save for the animals playing or asleep but that was hardly a surprise with the day and rapidly dwindling hours.

“Winds are putting up quite the fight, aren't they?” Offered a kind voice. Twisting to face the counter he was met with a kind looking man and he hesitantly nodded as the wind rattled a window, as if to prove a point.

“Quite a load you got there, why don’t you bring it over here while you look around?” The man smiled, gesturing him over while fiddling with his glasses and Elsi found himself wandering over with a small frown.

“But I’m not actually here to buy...” He trailed off.

Shrugging, the adult waved off the words, “better you’re in here than out there with all that howling!”

Hesitantly he put the bags down with a nod before wandering off. There were plenty of animals to keep his attention while his family was shopping, that much was for sure, and even though he wasn’t looking to buy a pet it’d be a lie to say he didn't appreciate the distraction the more playful cats were happy to offer. From the toads and cats to even the more exotic animals, they were all fun to see in their own ways and even if Elsian was quick to give the owls and other birds plenty of space they were still nice to look at. It wasn't long before he was wandering away from the birds to some terrariums, eyeing some of the spiders and a smug looking snake.

Coming to a bigger terrarium he fully expected a large snake of some sort, an adult or something bigger than the previous ones because he couldn't think of anything else that would need one so big. But it was empty. Or, he assumed it was because he couldn’t see anything in it except for a dish of shallow water and a few black webs that...must’ve been old.

Reaching up to fiddle with the wobbly looking top he pushed it back into place, “Guess someone bought them…” He’d dug his own grave without even realizing it, hadn’t even noticed a large black shadow crawling down from their perch until spindly legs were curiously prodding his fingers.

He yelped, jerking back his arm with a flinch but apparently that just made him more interesting to the spider. New, exciting maybe, to his dismay, because the lack of a bridge via his arm did nothing to stop the creature from jumping, catching itself on his scarf and crawling up his chest happily even as he rapidly back tracked. As if that would help..

“No no no!” he gasped, stilling and hands hovering when it also stopped. It didn’t really do anything, both of them locked in a standstill until the black spider tentatively began crawling again, mapping out his scarf and then his arm. It was bizarre and unreal. Any anxiety or fear quickly overshadowed by curiosity and a warmth that was beginning to make him smile at the endearing behavior. He was forced to stretch his arm out at the others continuous prodding, quick to bring up a gloved hand to hold her when she ran out of arm to explore. It felt like only a few minutes they hung out like that, with him working as her personal jungle gym but it had to have been longer because he could hear his dad calling his name nearby from outside.

“I have to go,” he sighed, putting her down near the counter where the old man had gotten a good chuckle out of his jump scare. He’d barely grabbed his bags after thanking the owner before the spider was on his shoulder and crawling around in his loose scarf. “Hey! No!”, he freed a hand to nudge her into his hand, “I can’t play.”

The shop owner laughed lightly, shaking his head. “She’s a stubborn one.”

She stared at him silently, as if to cement the others words, judging even as she squirmed to hop back on his sleeve. He could feel whatever little will power he’d have to leave dwindling. “C’mon…” He bit the inside of his cheek.

His dad wouldn’t mind, and they were already bringing things home so getting the supplies wouldn’t be a big deal to get back…mind made up he put the bag down, letting the spider crawl up to mess with scarf as he dug out his wallet. “I’d like to take her with me...can you help me get everything she’d need?”

“Of course,” he smiled, beginning to move to show him what she'd need. The door jingled happily just as he and the shopkeeper got everything together, his dad appearing with a cheerful smile that morphed into a small cackle when Elsians new friend made herself known.

“Oh your aunts are going to love her.”

What animal do you wish to purchase?: Black Webber
What do you want to name it?: Kitty
Is this a boy or a girl?: Girl
What is your pet's date of birth?: September 2, 2020

Congratulations on your pet spider, Kitty! Take good care of her, I'm sure you will become good friends.