Edderkopp - Drider!Loki

Sixteen

It took a while for me to catch up, my short human legs nothing compared to eight spindly ones and a scaled belly that could go over any terrain with ease.

By the time I had caught up, their hushed conversation had dulled into pure silence.

The air between them was tense but not uncomfortable, though still not comfortable enough for me to ask what the deciding factor had been.

Was I trustworthy or not?

Unfortunately, given that we still had a long way to travel, not knowing wasn't really an option for the long term but I would let them stew until we settled that night.

So, I set my own pace behind them and walked in silence as the sun moved across the sky, the day passing by at a steady rate with barely any of us muttering a word or needing to stop.

Thankfully, the rain stayed off for the rest of the day, so I only had to deal with traipsing the ground as slick as it was going to get without the threat of further damage.

I had no intentions of slipping into another chasm and risking another injury to one of my travel companions, luckily my high concentration distracted me from everything else around me, even food.

My appetite didn't sprung up until we reached early evening, as the sun started to set and a chill started to fill the forest, my stomach soon began to fill in the silent void with a long and low rumble.

Thor was too far ahead to hear it, his stare barely ever breaking directly ahead of him through the duration of the day. Loki, however, paused and half-turned towards me, smirking in amusement as he came to a stop until I caught up with him.

"Hungry, are we?" He asked lowly, stooping down to be more at my level.

I looked up at him and laughed sheepishly, nodding.

"Yeah, it's catching up to me."

"Then we shall stop soon," he said, looking up to the canopy. "We are losing light anyway, may as well kill two birds with one stone."

"That works," I nodded slowly, letting a moment of quiet settle between us as I took a deep breath and fiddled with the strap of my bag. "Will Thor be okay with that?"

Loki glanced towards the naga and then gave a small shrug.

"He should be, I don't think he's in the mood to argue or negotiate."

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, I believe that he's just a little lost, this is all new to him."

"I don't want to force him into something if he's unsure."

Loki chuckled softly and rested a hand atop my head, a gentle gesture that lingered but a moment before he pulled it back again.

"Don't fret, this is merely uncharted territory for him, he shall come around to the adventure."

"I certainly hope so."

When I looked ahead, the path was empty and the branches we had to push through were swaying softly, Thor had passed through and was leaving us for his own company as we spoke, something that I couldn't begrudge him.

Loki was right, I had essentially trespassed on their territory and uphauled their lives on a whim, nothing but a possibility that could prove entirely fruitless.

Shaking my head before the guilty thoughts could build, I distracted myself by watching Loki's legs move in a natural, hypnotic rhythm.

They still made shivers run down my spine but I was getting used to the spider half of him, it seemed that keeping his company for the foreseeable future could do wonders for my discomfort around smaller arachnids.

"Has something caught your eye?"

With a flinch, I snapped my head towards Loki and found him smirking down at me in amusement.

"No," I shook my head, glancing at his legs again before training my eyes ahead. "I was just wondering how your leg is doing."

He chuckled lowly and turned his attention forward as well, his amused expression broadening as if he didn't fully believe me.

"It's healing well, barely a twinge when I put weight on it now."

He then tilted his head to look down at me, his hair shrouding his face and making the small action creepily alluring, like a monster you shouldn't lay eyes upon.

"Why?" He asked, his lips splitting into a sharp toothed grin that pushed his chelicerae unnaturally widely apart. "Were you fancying a ride?"

"No, I was just wondering as we should catch up to Thor and then rest for the night."

"We might catch up faster if you rode on my back."

"Do...do you have some kind of riding fetish?"

"And if I did? Would you dare to shame me for it?"

I rolled my eyes as I laughed, shaking my head.

"Do you want to give me a ride?"

"Well...not particularly, but...I suppose...if you wish to."

I couldn't tell if his sudden bashfulness was genuine or if he was a really good actor, but it still had me guffawing like a crow which, in turn, had him smiling, the air clearing of the previous tenseness in next to no time.

"Let's just catch up with Thor, shall we?" I smiled.

Loki quickly scuttled in front of me and then lowered himself down, looking at me over his shoulder.

"Come along, get on and I'll get us there, he's likely a ways ahead by now."

"I see that you're really eager for me to have this ride," I laughed as I stepped closer, placing my hands on his shoulders, his skin immediately chilling my own.

"That, or I don't wish to be enchanted by the Skogsrå."

I paused mid-climb, looking at him.

"The what?"

"Don't fret, little human," he chuckled, turning to look ahead of himself. "Act as though I said nothing."

"I don't think I ca-"

"We are wasting precious daytime, let us go."

I glared at the back of his head and then climbed the rest of the way up to settle on his abdomen, close enough to hold on with my arms around his neck.

Without another word, he stood up the rest of the way and continued on down the path Thor had paved for us in the mud.