Snake Eyes

Chapter 10

The sound of a door opening and closing tugged at his mind and forcefully pulled him from sleep. He didn't want to get up though, didn't want to leave the warmth and the pressure of being held that he was enjoying so much. Footsteps across hardwood and he followed the subject deeper into the apartment, into the kitchen to rummaged the fridge. He could hear the machine open and close a few minutes later. More movement, around the apartment until he couldn't simply sit there and listen any longer. Sitting up, Arackniss carefully moved Pentious' arm from his waist and slipped from the snakes coiled grasp. He'd found the position soothing, if a little odd, given the man had wrapped his entire tail around him and then held him to his chest as they slept.

Silently lowering himself to the floor, he took each step carefully while listening to the intruder. Whoever it was, they were incredibly comfortable. They strode around the living room and even sat on the couch for a bit before heading to the hall. Digging the knife from his pants, since his gun was by his jacket in the living room, Arackniss waited by the door to the room for the footfalls to approach. Soon enough, he was swinging the door open and grabbing the man, pressing the blade to his neck.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on just a minute!" The deep voice that eased through the room had his mind jumping back to when he'd gotten to the apartment earlier. He released the rat and the lights flicked on in the bedroom. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Is that a habit of yours? You just attack people out of nowhere?" Closing the knife, he rolled his eyes and glanced at the door as Pentious came to it. His lover groaned and immediately grabbed his head. Arackniss watched the rat turn to Pentious and clearly they had seen each other like this before, since neither he nor Pentious were remotely decent. "This is the second time he's pulled a weapon out, Thomas. First he shoots, and now it's knives. Next thing I know he's going to be throwing acid on me!" He stopped while he listened to the man and started going over everything. The only other interaction he'd had with the rat had been earlier and it hadn't involved his gun. The only time he'd pulled his gun out anywhere close to Pentious was the first time they met, and the rat hadn't been there. But the hat had been. He quickly thought about their day in the apartment, before it had moved to the bedroom for the remain ten or so hours, and he hadn't seen the hat anywhere.

"Gregory, please. I'm not in the mood to listen to your bitching tonight." He watched the rat and took in everything about him; he was small, grey, and at this point only wearing a pair of black pants. He had the same pink eye color as Pentious, and as he watched them he noticed how innately similar their movements were, almost like the rat was copying Pentious out of habit.

"I'm not bitching, why in Hell would I be bitching? It's not like your lover hasn't just tried to kill me for walking into my own home! I give you all day with him and this is the thanks I get? I thought for sure he would have gone home by now, all the others were gone after a few hours." It was clear by the tension in Pentious' tail that he truly was in no mood to argue with that hat. The man started flicking the end of his tail back and forth in a quick motion and now Arackniss had a new fascination.

"Gregory, just shut up and go to bed." The rat broke his imitation to cross his arms over his chest and glare at the snake.

"I'm supposed to sleep now that I don't feel safe in my own home? You aren't even trying to make this up to me, Thomas, you're brushing it off. What if he had gone through with it, huh? You'd be looking for a new assistant and you'd have to do this entire experiment on your own! You're being lenient on him because he got you off. Or-" The rat stopped and smiled widely; a cruel, Cheshire grin. "Don't tell me you're falling in love with him already. You have got to be kidding me! You can't be this weak or you're going to be used again. Just like when we were alive, you're going to find another Carter and-" The movement was fast and Arackniss barely saw it when it happened, until the rat was contorted against the wall. That same tail that had been carefully holding him moments before was now wrapped tightly around Gregory's lower half, holding is hands against his sides and visibly tightening until the rat was gasping. Pentious had the rats head pressed into the wall, forcing his top half to lean over Pentious' tail and the much smaller man was already shaking. He took a breath and looked Pentious over. Tense enough to suffocate the rat easily, if not crush all of his bones, the snake had his hood fully lifted now, the first time he'd ever seen it. The eyes scattered across his lover's body were now glowing and he focused on Pentious' mouth. The two long fangs his lover couldn't even put in his mouth were dripping with some sort of clear liquid he was sure wasn't saliva.