The sight of the upwards sloping ground left Farin in despair. He already knew he would be unable to climb the way back up without spending the whole day, but that was the price he had to pay for information. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. His lowly hanging shoulders and twisted face were soon noticed by Alvarr.
"Tired?", he asked, worriedly frowning. "Carry you?"

Farin blinked in surprise and looked over Alvarr. "You mean, you'll carry me up?" "Yes. Not heavy."
Indeed, if he can carry seven children at once, he can carry me as well. I'm not heavier than all of them together. Just... We're the same height, so it would be a bit uncomfortable, moreover, I don't really want to be carried around... 
Farin pursed his lips, weighing his options. While his pride was against being carried around like a child, he also knew that he was physically unable to make the climb in a good time.

Alvarr, uncertain as to what problem the human might be having, tried to make it easier for him. "Often carry others when hurt", he explained. "And carry children. Carry father, when father tired." "Huh? You mean, the one from just now? He lets you carry him?" "When tired."
The young human could hardly imagine such a sight, especially since the old God didn't look like he needed help in any way.
"Hmm, also, is faster? Easier? Saver, cause on trees."

The lower branches of the trees around this area were all free from leaves but sturdy enough, creating a pathway all around them. Claw marks were showing everywhere, proving that this was indeed the path that the Gods usually took when traversing their cave. Knowing that he would just be a burden if he kept on acting out of pride, Farin gave in. In the first place, pride would only play a role when there was someone around who might act demeaning depending on your behavior or words.

"Alright. Thanks."
Alvarr squatted down - making it obvious he was planning to carry Farin on his back, much to the human's relief. In truth, he had been slightly worried he'd be carried like a sack of potatoes or a princess, both equally awkward compared to piggyback.
With slow movements, he leaned over Alvarr, who began to stand up the moment he felt Farin lean on him. It was a weird feeling to be carried. It had been a long time since someone last carried Farin around, usually, it was him carrying his younger siblings. 
Wrapping his arms around Alvarr's neck and legs around his waist, Farin found a way to steady himself, expecting a rather bumpy journey over the trees. Alvarr didn't even try to hold Farin up, he kept his arms free because he would need them. To be safe, Farin kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to bite his tongue when Alvarr began running or jumping.

The God leaped up the tree in front of them, moving on all fours. It was a bit shaky but since Alvarr wasn't carrying someone for the first time, he knew how to move in order to not let Farin fall. His little pet jumped up front, checking out the path.

Carefully, Farin glanced down to the ground. They were three or four meters up in the trees, causing him to shiver at the height and tighten his hold. At that moment, he felt like the first time he had tried to ride a horse: Awkwardly clinging to it, just hoping not to fall down. He really wasn't suited to traveling above ground.

The young God nimbly jumped from branch to branch, using his tail to steady himself and sometimes stopping to check on Farin with a questioning sound. On the ground below them, animals had come out, some looking up with hostile gazes, others just crossing their paths. Since the youth had come in the morning, there was a chance that some of them had still been in their nests, holes, caves or whatever home they used before and only now came out to look for water or food. Most of them had weird looking limbs, well suited for the mixed terrain of the cave but unnatural from the standpoint of a human who had never seen anything like it before. Good thing I didn't try to explore on my own. The thought of coming across such a foreign beast was unsettling. 

Clinging to Alvarr as if his life depended on it, the human tried to take in as much as he could. The strange world inside the cave was fascinating enough even in passing, like a completely different country. Both plants and animals here were very different from what he knew, even though all that parted the two worlds was that wall of stone. His curiosity was prodding him to explore it, but his rationality was screaming a warning. This wasn't a place he could survive in on his own.

Alvarr only set him down when the slope had lessened considerably towards the edges of the cave. Both steadied themselves on the ground. All in all, Farin looked more exhausted than Alvarr, stretching his limbs. The God leaned in towards him, like a cat or dog sniffing to check up on a human. "You fine?" "I'm fine, don't worry. Let's go on, I'll take a break once we're out of the forest." "Okay."
Obediently, Alvarr nodded and continued to lead the way, stopping every few seconds to look around with twitching ears. Farin smiled in amusement at the sight of his bodyguard watching out for dangers. A feeling of security washed over him, possibly because he knew that unless Alvarr was nervous, he didn't have a reason to be tense.  

Hmm. Might as well take advantage. Ignoring the bad feeling of doing something with an ulterior motive, Farin stretched out his hand to grab Alvarr's. Fingers intertwining, Farin's softer human skin scratched against the rougher layer around Alvarr's. Alvarr's skin was warm against his own, almost comforting.
The God jolted visibly, muscles in his arms tensing. He pulled up his hand - and Farin's along with it - and stared at it in confusion before looking at Farin. The man smiled happily. "That way, I won't get lost."

The excuse wouldn't have worked on a human at all. Not in the slightest. The point was, just as the God's behavior didn't make sense from a human's perspective, the God didn't find too much sense in how the human behaved, either. As such, Alvarr just accepted the gesture as something humans did for some reason. Since Farin had made it clear the gesture wasn't anything negative or a warning, he just quietly accepted it.
Alvarr now looked at the way their fingers intertwined in curiosity and then carefully squeezed to return the pressure Farin was giving off. He thoughtfully let his hand fall, observing how it naturally hung between him and the human. 

"Okay", he merely stated, nodding. Farin grinned when he saw that Alvarr looked at ease holding his hand, even if he was confused at first. It was a warm, comfortable feeling despite the roughness of the God's hand. Again, how long has it been since I've walked holding hands with someone?

Jumping down from the trees to the ground and then hopping over to them, the little animal climbed up Alvarr's pants and mustered their interlocked hands with as much curiosity as his owner had done. With a satisfied click, it hopped down Alvarr's arm and settled onto their lightly swinging hands, three tails hanging down and tiny claws slipping into the gaps between their fingers to settle safely. The blue-eyed young man laughed at the sight. "Comfortable there, little guy?" The animal answered with another excited click.
A golden pair of eyes moved between pet and human, then retracted. As long as Farin didn't mind the little thing hitching a ride, Alvarr wasn't going to complain.

With loosely interlocked fingers they walked onwards, Farin often stumbling on the last stretch. With the thick shrub everywhere, he couldn't see the ground and kept on getting caught at uneven parts. He was just happy he hadn't walked into an animal yet. Thoughts wandering, he looked around.
"Am I disturbing your work by making you take me up and down?", he wondered out loud.
"Work?" "Watching the children." "Ah, no. Today no children. Today just hunting. Lots of time." "That's good... Do you eat meat raw?"

With the way their teeth were formed, the Gods could probably chew even raw meat apart. Curious about their way of living, Farin couldn't help asking and Alvarr was happy to answer.
"Uhm, put meat over fire. Is that raw?" "Raw is when you eat it directly from the animal." "Then, no. Possible, but hurts and sometimes get sick." He patted his stomach. Farin was happy to hear that the Gods didn't mind processed food.
"Hmmm, I'd love bringing you some cooking from home. You might like it."

Maybe hearing the longing sound in Farin's voice, Alvarr's ears twitched and his golden eyes blinked curiously. "Cooking?"
"Eh, well, food made in a special way. Like what I brought before." "Ah, that! That was tasty!" "Really? Then I'll bring more."
Farin beamed at the God, who pursed his lips. "Your home... What is it like?"

"You want to know? Why?" "Because is your home." Alvarr put emphasis on the word, his hand squeezing along with it. Farin chuckled, holding his free hand in front of his mouth until he could wipe the stupid grin off his face. "That's a good reason."

Human and God stumbled on through the thick shrub, their voices sounding throughout the forest.
"What's it like, huh? Well, for starters, we have a huge amount of people. Hundreds, thousands of them in one village." "Village?" "Like your home. An area where people have their... houses? Sleeping quarters? Like your trees." "I understand. How do you feed all?"
That the God had immediately realized such an issue fascinated Farin. He didn't know how much of their village he had seen, but it didn't look like they had domesticated animals other than the half-pet sitting on their hands. From his understanding, they gathered their food only as they needed, which was something that wouldn't work for several thousands of people. "We have fields where we plant fruits and vegetables and raise animals that we can kill and eat when we need to."

Farin gestured with his free hand, trying to paint the landscape of his home. Alvarr didn't understand all words - some he just didn't know, some he had no concept of - so he interjected once in a while to ask, his ears turned to Farin and eyes shining brightly. 
The human tried to explain his world in a few sentences. The way their society worked, the environment, even where the cave was located. Alvarr's attention on him grew with every word.

"Can I see? One day?", he asked excitedly, tilting his head. At first, Farin wanted to reject him. There were too many dangers to taking a God out of the mountain, but...
There was that door that could be opened from the inside at any time, missing any sort of complicated mechanism, like that was how it was intended to be. While it was large and heavy, the strong Gods would have no issue pushing it open, even if they hadn't seen a door before. If a God wanted to leave, couldn't they? If that was the case, was there any difference to inviting Alvarr outside? If he went along, then the God would even have a Guide. Compared to being dangerous, it was probably safer that way.
Farin felt a smile bloom on his lips.

"Yeah. I'm sure we can find a way for you to take a look outside."
He took a deep breath - glancing at the blue sky shining through gaps in the foliage - holding it for a moment and then exhaling. His muscles relaxed a bit alongside his deflating lungs. "We have the sky all above us", he continued to tell, like a story. The way he saw his own world, he wanted to convey it to Alvarr. The life he was proud of; his beloved home and family.

All the bad things outside, he could just hide for now. 

Owl

To everyone's surprise, the little animal probably enjoyed the hand-holding the most (=ↀωↀ=)✧

Theatre

Spoiler

Farin: "We're never talking about you carrying me ever again"
Alvarr: "What if you want to visit my home again?"
Farin: "...We're never talking about you carrying me in front of anyone"

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