The Human Hunter

Chapter 7

To her surprise, he actually cracked a small smile before covering it up with a scowl and turning back around to tug his shirt over his head. She watched him for a brief moment before turning back to her food and eating everything but the chocolate bar.

Gonna save that for later.

"You ready?" he asked, suddenly at her side with a new shirt, this one actually black in collar. It was also clear that it had once had sleeves but they'd been torn off at some point, just leaving frayed thread that had worn down to almost look stylish.

Nudging the bag with the chocolate bar away from the edge of the desk a bit, Emma glanced down at her attire and then back up to Widow.

"Does this work? Because I didn't really pack any formal attire," she said, a hint of humor in her voice.

Widow chuckled and tossed her a pair of black shorts before stepping past her as he gestured for her to follow. Emma quickly tugged on his offered clothing gratefully, tied the drawstring, then hurried after him, practicing walking behind him at the distance Legs had told her. She also kept her head down and back straight. It was actually harder to do than she'd thought, especially since she was such an outgoing person toward most people. At least it helped that it was easier to see in the cave, too. In fact...

"Did you bring in those glow worms that are now on the ceiling? They really help me be able to see a bit better in there," she said, smiling even though her head was still bowed. She should have asked Widow if she could speak, but he'd said that he didn't care for most of the formalities that Legs taught, so she didn't want to bother him too much with her practicing them.

He didn't answer until he was kneeling down on the rocky ledge outside of the cave, silently telling her to hop on his back.

"They just appeared there recently," he mumbled as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, then added her legs around his waist as he stood up.

She mulled his words around in her head as he began to climb down the rocks, foregoing the thread again. "So, the extra webbing the spiders have spun beneath them isn't to catch any droppings from the worms? And they enjoy sharing their space?" she asked before tucking her face against the crook of his neck so that he couldn't turn his head and see her grinning. He tried, too, and that just made her bite back a laugh.

"They just do not taste good. I will remove them soon enough to quell your misplaced gratitude," he said as he jumped the last few boulders with ease before landing on the ground.

Emma slid from his back as soon as they were down, then quickly followed behind him, continuing to practice while stealing glances around the tunnel they had entered. There was a breeze coming through the area, but she knew that they weren't inside the tunnel leading to the bathing pools. This one was completely different and actually had glow worms scattered about here and there to help with visibility.

"I can place my gratitude elsewhere if you'd keep the bugs there?" she said, then immediately felt her cheeks heat when he stopped and glanced over his shoulder, a smirk on his face that she could see even in the dim light.

"Where, might I inquire, would you like to place said gratitude, then?" he asked as he turned to fully face her, clearly enjoying the blush she knew was coloring her face.

This darn guy.

Narrowing her eyes, she defiantly stepped up to him until their chests were nearly brushing, then slowly lifted her hand toward his face. The closer it got the wider his eyes grew until he actually started leaning away slightly, his gaze darting to the side nervously. Holding back another bit of laughter, Emma stopped her hand at his shoulder and quickly nudged Fuzz, who had been perched there. Thankfully, the spider knew what she was getting at and quickly hopped up.