Spike pushed his glasses back up his nose gently, for some reason wondering if he'd ruined Lottie's day. Afterall, her excitement levels seemed to have leveled off somewhat. At least he hadn't scared her off just yet though...

What did he have in mind? Many things. Spike was a curious fellow, afterall. "Have you seen it in blossom yet?" he asked, though from her earlier reaction he guessed she probably hadn't. "It should be out fully by now." And, given that she'd waiting for so long to see it in the flesh, he hoped it would live up to expectations. "Or we could go pick some flowers...or explore the orchard more..." It'd been a while since he'd been in the orchard, so a walk would be pleasant. Tree climbing would be fun too, though he wasn't sure if Lottie was into that. One could never tell with girls.

As she mentioned his pets, Spike had a proud smile on his face. "Four," he replied. "Matilda, Killy and Kranky, and Sophie. Five if you count Rosie." Who just happened to be a carnivorous plant of Spike's own invention. She acted like a pet though, and still needed a lot of training to ensure that she wouldn't treat people's fingers as food. "Rosie being a sort-of fanged rose." He explained vaguely.

His lips curled in amusement at her description of creepy crawlies. "That they do. But not just on trees..." Spike should know, he'd collected enough of them. And, of course, she wanted to know why...at least she didn't look disgusted at the sheer mention of them. Lottie's blue eyes demanded attention, and it was probably best to give her what she wanted. "Matilda is..." he started. "Well, she's not your average kind of pet." He bit his lip, trying to judge what she might be thinking - whether she'd be running back to the castle screaming at the sound of his next words.

"She's a tarantula."