Mating In A Dull World

The maratus cristatus is waiting.

Baby Pierre laughs.

So do the Dirties.

All right, says Lavender. Do your mating dance. But no mating.

The maratus laughs now.

What sort of female is she?

In the palm of Gaius's hand he starts swaying.

Da-daah! He raises his abdomen and opens his flaps.

Revealing a circular union jack pattern, red white and blue. Electric!

He raises his third pair of legs and waves them at Lavender.

He vibrates his abdomen and dances from side to side.

Baby Pierre has never seen anything so suggestive.

He looks over at Lavender.

Hard to tell what she's thinking.

But he guesses she's closing her eyes.

If only I had a camera, thinks Gaius. I could film this.

Then he remembers that he has a smart phone in his pocket.

But.... he has his hands full.

In one hand: Lavender and the dancing maratus cristatus.

Can't disturb them.

In the other, Baby Pierre and the Dirties.

They will not mind.

He drops them into his left trouser pocket, and feels in his shirt pocket, for the phone.

Good. He's found it. But now.... Drat. Fumble fumble. How do the young people work these devices one handed?

I wonder, says Gaius, if you might hold the rest of your mating dance until we get back to the campsite.

But the maratus cristatus isn't listening. He is alert for only one thing. Is Lavender excited, or is she about to attack him?

Stop dancing, says Lavender. I've got the gist anyway.

No one says that, says the maratus.

But you must remember that Lavender is not the same species as you are, says Gaius. She will neither mate with you, nor attack, kill and eat you.

What is going on? The maratus stops dancing. Lavender has got the gist anyway.

What a dull world this is.