Cat and mouse (part 1) Revised version!

Chapter 30

Loki POV

Anna watched as I mucked the horse stalls at the local inn. She was sitting on a hay bail, a smug look on her face.
We had argued for several minutes before I finally agreed to do the deed. I had reminded myself halfway through the argument I was supposed to be getting on her good side, and caved begrudgingly.
"This is disgusting." I complained darkly.
"Community service isn't supposed to be fun, it's to build character and give you a sense of community." She said seriously but her eyes sparkled with glee.
I rolled my eyes and continued to shovel horse shit into the barrel.
"They have people for this you know." I said pausing to glare at her some more.
"I'm sure they appreciate you giving them a break."
I was dressed in a short sleeve tan shirt and black pants. Apparently on midguard those who were indebted to this punishment wore a uniform for their service. She plucked these from my closet and tossed them to me leaving me no room for argument.
This was the ensemble I was to where every time I was working. It was painfully boring and cheap material.
The inn keeper had given me a pair of muck boots to use, they were well worn and smelled of sweat.
I threw the last pile of crap into the barrel and wiped sweat from my brow, leaning against the shovel.
"You look good working up a sweat." She teased swinging her legs.
I was surprised at her words, she'd never given me a compliment before, let alone one pointed towards my looks.
"As opposed to shirtless?" I asked pushing just a little.
The color in her cheeks flashed pink.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She insisted feigning innocence.
"It's fine, you wouldn't be the first to not resist sneaking a peek." I said enjoying her frown.
She really was so sensitive.
"I did not." She argued adamantly.
I raised my eyebrows and let the shovel fall into the stall.
"Are you afraid to admit you liked what you saw?" I asked walking up and leaning down a little so I was face level with her.
She leaned back slightly and I loved the way she ran, it made me want to chase.
"Knock it off."
"If you ever want to return the favor, I wouldn't be opposed."
I let my eyes drift down to the high neck line of the dress, imaging her unbuttoning it and putting me out of my misery.
Her lips were set in a straight line and I expected her smart mouth to fire back any second but instead she slid off the hay barrel and walked away.
"Hey!" I called after her more than a little disappointed.
I went to walk after her but realized I was still in the muck boots. I hastily tore them off and tossed them aside pulling on my regular black ones.
When I turned back around, she was gone.
I groaned to myself and started after her, a human on foot could only go so far.
::;
Anna POV

I muttered to myself as I walked.
He had only been teasing, but I felt myself grow more and more angry with him with every smug little comment.
He'd been nothing short of a sexual deviant from the moment I'd met him, so it was no surprise that he continued to flirt with me despite his lack of actual interest.
The thing was, I assumed he was just trying to get under my skin or to get try and something out of it but I couldn't tell anymore.
What's worse was that I was falling for it, I was allowing myself to be mesmerized by the same tactics he used on all women.
His stupid confidence and devilish charm, it was weaseling in and corrupting me.
The first chink in my armor had been loosing some of my hatred and now I was starting to loose my general dislike for the prince, I was looking at him like any normal, annoying man.
I stopped and looked out over a small pond, taking a deep breath and inhaling the sweet smell of the water flowers at the banks edge. Small winged insects with way to many wings on their long bodies danced over the flowers.
Would it be so bad if I almost enjoyed it when he tried to bait me with small touches and almost kisses.
He was playing at something obviously, but couldn't I enjoy the ride?
He killed Devin.
I pushed my palms into my eyes and tried to bring back my resolve before all this started to happen. Before I started looking at him like a person.
I heard rustling from from the trees just beyond me and froze froze turning towards the sound.
A low animalistic grunt came just before a large brown animal slowly walked out from the small wooded area. It was the size of a small brown bear, tusks like a warthog hog protruded from its mouth and long claws like a sloth were on every toe of each paw pad.
My heart thudded in my chest, and all but stopped when three more followed after the first.
I backed up slowly to a winding tree behind me and scrambled up into its limbs.
The odd creatures came to a stop below my hiding spot and drank from the pond with loud slurps.