Edderkopp - Drider!Loki

Three

Once the shock of our initial introduction was over, Loki led me further back into the cave.

Perhaps it was foolish to blindly follow him, knowing that there was a high chance of him becoming the predator to my prey, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

He eagerly scuttled into an area that opened up, revealing a small room of rock spikes that were covered in webs and cocoons with small bits of treasury suspended in the pale strings. In two of the furthest corners were two lit sconces, illuminating the area just enough to make out clear areas that would be safe from the webs and dry enough to rest in.

Loki moved across the room with ease and scuttled up the furthest wall, settling into an area where the web was thickest, like a sticky decking.

I managed to awkwardly shuffle my way through the spikes without impaling myself and found a cozy spot to settle myself into, I decided to curl up beside the furthest wall beneath one of the sconces in an area clear of web so that I could move comfortably without that terrible sticky feeling.

Before resting fully, I used some more magic to light another fire close by for warmth and made sure my bag was tucked beneath my head and my cloak covered me fully once again, my tired, drooping eyes watched as Loki got himself comfortable on the opposite side of the space.

Once we had settled in and gotten as comfortable as we could, Loki began his unending chatter.

For a man of amazing spindliness, he was also very funny and charming with some enthralling stories to share, both from his life and of legends he'd picked up along the way.

I'd still jump from time to time when one of his legs would twitch or he'd suddenly scuttle across the room to retrieve something he was telling me about, his face as excited as that of a child showing their parent a newly discovered animal.

His prized possession was a golden helmet he had found during a long trek in the forest.

"I came across a rundown temple of sorts, the crumbling walls were covered in murals of royals," he smiled wistfully, "in what appeared to be a long abandoned bedroom I found this and well...I just felt I had to take it, like it was mine."

It was honestly endearing, how this large and intimidating creature became a ball of eagerness purely because he had some company.

Excitement started to dwindle as we both hit a wall of tiredness, it was hard to say how much time had passed in the back of the cave, where it was nice and warm and shielded from the entrance, so the sounds of the storm were non-existent.

Truthfully, I felt safe.

Despite how much I actively wanted to dislike my night with the drider, I found myself enjoying the time, at least I did once I had gotten used to his appearance.

"Loki?" I asked, voice filled with drowsiness.

"Yes?"

"Do you actually sleep?"

His now familiar deep chuckle echoed a little.

"I do, why do you ask?"

"Well, from my understanding, spiders don't exactly sleep as such, they have their own way of working right?"

"Correct."

"So, seeing as you're half spider, I was just wondering if you actually slept or did it the arachnid way as you're technically more spider than human."

"I've never honestly thought about it, I've always just naturally curled up to sleep like most other non-arachnid that I am aware of."

"Oh, that's good," I nodded slowly, my cheek nuzzling into my bag.

"Though don't be alarmed about my extra eyes, much like a spider, they do not close when I sleep."

"Well, that's just extra creepy."

"I'm all about being creepy," he smirked, adjusting his legs in his web while using a self-made pedestal to rest his human half on.

I only hummed in response, finally letting my tiredness take over as the world and its noises pleasantly drifted in and out of consciousness.

After another unknown amount of time, I was coaxed out of my sleep by a soft murmuring of my name.

The cave was completely dark, the fire having died out as we slept, which meant that I had managed to get at least three hours of sleep.

"Hmm?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the gooey sensation sticking to them.

"When you leave, will you ever come back?"

Loki's voice was far away and he spoke so softly I almost missed the sentence entirely, let alone the sadness that laced his voice.

"I dunno," I sighed tiredly through my nose, "would you want me to?"

"I think I would like that."

"You only think?" I snickered lightly, shifting beneath my cloak to tuck my feet in better after noticing just how cold they had gotten.

"No, no I definitely know...I don't want to be alone anymore."

I frowned, lifting my head up from my makeshift pillow to look in his general direction despite the darkness being too much to even hope to see a silhouette.

"How long have you been here?"

It was only then that I realised that in all the hours we had talked, neither of us brought up the obvious, instead I had been content in watching and listening to Loki as he rambled about his forest adventures and his findings.

"For as long as I can remember, honestly."

"And there is no one else around?"

"There is one other who sometimes passes by, a blond haired naga."

"Have you not tried to befriend them?"

"No, although sometimes I feel as if I should, like something is telling me we could be great friends."

"Sounds complicated."

"It is, but that isn't the point, I feel that we are friends now and I don't want you to leave and to never see you again."

"We haven't known each other that long."

"I'm aware, but it's nice to have someone around and I feel we've gotten to know one another enough to claim to be at least light friends."

I smiled groggily and nodded, not knowing if he could see me any better than I could see him.

"I would like that, I'll come back to visit."

"Great," I could hear the smile in his voice before a tense silence took over.

Mere minutes before I'd have used this moment to slip back into sleep, but I could sense that something more was coming and I was now awake.

"Where are you going, anyway?"

There it was, the question I had been dreading him asking since the moment I had agreed to stay with him.

Curling up further beneath my cloak, I wrapped my arms around my chest and stared into the blackness surrounding us.

"I don't know."

"Then why are you so eager to leave?"

"I don't know that either," I said softly, "I can't answer that."