Snake Eyes

Chapter 7

Why was he so nervous? It wasn't like they'd agreed to have sex the moment Arackniss showed up. In fact, they hadn't talked about that at all, they'd discussed dietary needs, which he'd kick himself for if he had feet. It had been nice, sure, but what kind of conversation goes to food like that? "You're doing it again. And you don't exactly have that much time before he gets here." At the sound of Gregory's voice, Pentious looked up from the sketchpad he used to design his machines and watched the rat walk by. He glared at the man until he looked down and felt his hood lift. Another very lewd stress drawing of Arackniss to add to his ever growing pile that he was now hiding in a folder in his room. Gregory had caught him making three different images, but in the last week he'd actually amassed more like ten. "You know, you should use that skill for some sort of profit. I'm sure people would pay you lots of money to draw them doing naughty things, like you draw your lover." Pentious made a mental note to gag the rat the next time he changed back.

"Did you gather the data like I asked, or are you simply here to be completely useless and annoy me?" The rat cackled before crossing the room and grabbing a small stack of pages to bring to him.

"I got the data you asked for. You can talk to him about all of the neat little details of his genes, if you'd like." He leaned up to Pentious' face and smiled. "And then you can tell him you need something more potent to use for the experiment and woo him. Just turn on some of that sexy snake charm you have." He spent the entire time glaring at the rat as he wiggled his hips and batted his eyelashes to tease. In that moment he debated exactly how badly he needed his assistant and if he could get away with simply cutting the rat in half or testing lasers on him. Slipping out of the chair, he moved to his room and filed the new picture away with the others in a night stand drawer. The soft knock sounded on the front door and he barely heard it. It wasn't until Gregory called "I'll get it!" from the other room that he realized it had actually happened. Fear was the first thing he felt before he scrambled to get into the living room. Sadly, he was too late, and the rat had already swung the door open to greet Arackniss before he could stop him. A small part of him was just happy Gregory had put on clothes today and wasn't standing there stark naked like he usually did. The larger part of him was too busy freaking out because Arackniss looked thoroughly shocked.

"You're fun is here, so I'm going to head out, Boss. I'll come back tomorrow to continue those tests. Don't have too much fun." Turning to give him a wink, the rat slid past Arackniss and scurried down the steps and out of the building quickly.

'I should just eat him. He might be more useful that way.' He hesitantly looked to Arackniss, who was still standing in the doorway staring after the rat.

"I didn't know you had an assistant." The slight gravel in the spiders voice had him sighing.

"I might not after that stunt." Moving further into the livingroom, he put his sketchpad on the table and moved into the kitchen. "Did you want something to drink? Tea, coffee, water?" The other man closed the door and he heard him step into the kitchen with him.

"I prefer coffee, but I'm fine with anything." Coffee it was than. He started pulling out the beans and grinder, but he could feel the spider watching him. "So, how has your day been so far?" At the sound of the casual small talk he couldn't help but smile and then laugh. Arackniss joined him after a moment, which just left them both giggling fits in his kitchen.

"So far, the worst thing about my day has been him." He pointed to the door as he started the coffee maker and turned to face his perfect specimen. Arackniss had pulled up a chair and was sitting backwards in it, hugging the back. "He's always been like that, though, so I shouldn't be too shocked."

"I promise you it could be worse. You could have two of 'em, like I do." He rolled his eyes and Pentious chuckled. "When there's more than one, it's not just you they prod at, it's each other too. Yesterday, I had to listen to one call the other a baby for ten minutes, because I dared to say one thing." He shook his head and realized that he hadn't stopped smiling since Gregory had left. No, scratch that. He hadn't stopped smiling since Arackniss had arrived.