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Nathaniel bit his lip, surrounded by students he didn't know. Marinette had asked him to join her and her friends in a camping trip, the problem being that he didn't really talk to any of these people. Such were the woes of a loner who can count the number of people he regularly talks to on one hand.
The campsite they were going to stay the night was already creeping him out, with the sun setting and casting a dim orange glow over the multitudes of tents set up. It looked ominous. Or maybe Nathaniel just needed to get outside more.
Kim was joking around with a small group of people near the edge. Nathaniel had heard about him from Alix and Marinette but he never had a substantial interaction with him before now.
"Hey, guys, let's go explore the woods!" He suggested, voice booming. His group murmured amongst themselves, eventually coming to an agreement and agreeing to go with him.
"What about you?" Kim asked, suddenly turning to Nathaniel. He jolted, not expecting the attention.
"I- Uh- I don't know, there are rumors that there's a monster that lives in empty caves around this area who takes campers who are alone in the woods."
Everyone immediately burst into laughter. His face burned with embarrassment as Kim walked over, pulling him up, "Come on, they're just rumors! Here, come on, let's disprove them together!" Without waiting for an answer, the athlete started dragging him deeper into the woods, the teenagers following them and cheering.
Nathaniel looked back to try and get Marinette to help him, but she was distracted talking to her friends.
Guess he was on his own.
---
"Do we have to do this?" Nathaniel asked, staring into the dark cave.
"Oh, not us, you," Kim clarified with a supporting hand on the artist's shoulder. He sputtered.
"WHAT?!"
The shout echoed through the cave, but Kim didn't pay any attention to it, "Yeah, man, can't be that hard to stay overnight in here."
"Overnight?!"
"Come on, if you don't do it, I'll go around school telling everyone you were too scared to stay in an empty cave," Kim smiled at the artist, leaning down so he could look the shorter boy in the eyes.
Nathaniel blanched. He was already bullied enough by people like Chloe. They didn't need this as fuel too.
Kim waved goodbye, walking away with the group of students, "See you in the morning!"
Nathaniel bit his lip, leaning against the wall and hugging himself as he looked around the empty cave.
Right. They're just rumors. Nothing to be afraid of. No monsters.
He took a deep breath to ground himself, pausing once he hears a noise from above him. Nathaniel slowly looked up, shaking in place as he saw a shadowy figure on the ceiling, defying gravity.
A clawed hand reached down and snatched the back of his jacket, lifting him up into the air until Nath could make eye contact with the monster of the legends.
---
As they were walking through the forest, one of his friends turned to look at Kim, "Hey, uh, did you actually mean that? With the whole spreading rumors thing?"
"Pff, nah, it was just to scare him a bit. I was gonna go back and get him in like five minutes."
Their conversation got interrupted with a terrified shriek coming from the cave.
---
Nathaniel's screams of fear didn't stop once as the monster started crawling deeper into the cave, still on the ceiling. It growled before something shot out of its body and covered his mouth. Spider silk?
As it continued walking, it spun him around and secured his arms to his side with the silk, eventually coming to a stop at an area that splits off into different sections of the cave. The monster slinked down to the ground and entered one, sticking Nath to the wall before leaving. He struggled a bit, trying to get out before giving up. It was too strong for him to break. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered Alix telling him that spider silk was stronger than steel. While Nathaniel found that cool at the time, right now he was cursing that fact.
He's stuck hanging there. But as he looked around, Nathaniel noticed a lot of strange things. Why was there a bed, desk, and bookshelf in a cave?
His thoughts were cut off by a call of "Mom, I'm home!" echoing through the cave. Nath didn't have time to comprehend what that meant before a boy enters the room. They blinked at each other before the boy made a frustrated noise, turning around and storming out.
Nathaniel could hear faint shouting of "Mom! You can't keep kidnapping boys because I'm gay! I can find a boyfriend on my own!" His mind completely blue-screened at that sentence. He watched as the boy rushed back into the room, snatching a pair of scissors off his desk. A wave of panic surged through his body before the other cut him down, apologizing immensely.
He stumbled as he became able to step on the ground again, the other holding his hand for support, quietly asking, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Nathaniel looked up, finally being able to fully take in the appearance of the boy, "Your eyes are really pretty. Wow."
That was not what he wanted to say. Goddamn lack of filter.
The other blushed, stuttering before finally saying, "I'm Marc. Sorry for my mom kidnapping you."
"Nathaniel. Also. Your MOM?!" The artist looked Marc up and down, "You look like a human though? Unless, you're adopted or something. Nothing wrong with that."
Marc giggled, shrugging off his jacket. He stood up straight, letting eight spider legs extend from behind his back, stretching in the air. Nathaniel was shocked silent, slowly blinking as his mind attempted to compute the new information.
"I didn't see any lump on your back when you came in here the first time though," Nathaniel pondered, genuinely intrigued. He was expecting to be more afraid of literal spider monsters, but they weren't as scary once he got used to the whole idea of it.
"It's enchanted from a witch we know," Marc smiled, putting his hoodie back on. "It hides my legs." Nathaniel leaned over to look. Sure enough, any signs of his limbs were completely hidden.
"Oh, wow, that's so cool," Nathaniel murmured, walking forward to touch his back. Even then, there was nothing out of the ordinary he could feel. He froze once Marc shivered beneath his touch. "Are you okay? Did I do something?"
"It just feels weird having someone touch my legs when they're not visible," Marc nervously said, blush starting to rise on his cheeks. Nathaniel stepped back, backpedaling.
"Sorry, I should've asked."
"Oh, you're fine!" Marc quickly reassured, "It was just a new experience. But we should probably get you back to your group now."
Nathaniel blinked. Oh right, he had completely forgotten he had been kidnapped, caught up in his conversation with Marc.
Marc held out a hand with a smile, "I'll take you to the entrance."
---
Nathaniel had been dropped off at the mouth of the cave, quickly finding the others and playing off his disappearance as a prank to scare everyone. Kim slapped a supportive hand on his back, laughing at the joke as he led everyone back to the camp grounds.
He almost wanted to protest, not wanting to leave Marc, but Nathaniel couldn't reveal his existence to the group without permission. His plan was to sneak back and get Marc's number at the very least, but there was never a good opportunity.
The trip ended with Nathaniel being disappointed that he had to wait until next weekend to contact Marc.
---
Nathaniel was walking through the halls in school, idly planning how to sneak away to the park they camped in during the weekend so he could find Marc and hopefully a way to keep in touch, passing by the principal showing a new student around.
He paused. He turned around to see a familiar hoodie.
"Marc?"
Mr. Damocles paused, turning towards the artist, "Oh, do you two know each other?"
Nathaniel nodded, still trying to wrap his head around why Marc was here. The boy gave a sheepish wave.
"Would you mind showing him around then?" He asked, "It might be better if he does it with someone he already knows."
"Sure, sir," Nathaniel agreed, waiting until the principal walked away before turning to Marc, excited, "Since when did you attend here?"
Marc chuckled, blushing, "Mom overheard your group talking about which school you guys go to. She had me transferred here so..." He coughed, blush somehow growing heavier, "I could attend school with the one guy who wasn't terrified of the whole spider thing. Her words, not mine."
Nathaniel clapped happily, "This is great! We can hang out even more now! Hey, come on, let me show you where all your classes are!"
Marc smiled as the redhead grabbed his hand, pulling him around. He didn't need to tell Nathaniel his mom transferred him because of his crush on him.