The serpents den (Reader x Sir Pentious)

Chapter 14: Broken Egos

Tears were the only thing that were free to move as you laid there, waiting in silence for your body to mend itself so you could move. The pain torment but not as agonizing as before. It was almost sickening to think that you were adapting to this kind of horrific pain, then again it could have also been from nerves just giving out. Staying on your stomach helped keep anything else from falling out till at long last the gash that spanned across your body finally sewed itself shut, despite the lingering shock that left limbs sore and shaky you forced yourself up. Glancing back down at him once near black scales were now almost a sickly grey. Darting across the yolk and blood coated floor you ran towards the one painting and tossed it aside. The frame shattering behind you as you pulled down the little lever that hid away where it once hung, a metallic clank echoing out as a wall of steel fell in front of the door sealing it closed once again. The thing once used to help trap Cherri now to keep that other demon from coming back inside, moving back towards the fallen serpent thoughts ran in a panic trying to figure out what to do. Memories of your first crippling wound rose into thoughts. Perhaps you could the same thing, carry him up to the bathroom and use that strange vile with the bath water like he had done when you were wounded. Though you were unsure if your new body would be capable of carrying him an attempt had to be made. Ripping off your jacket you tied it around the end of his tail, while it wouldn't help it would at least keep a part of him from being further damaged when you inevitably started the process of dragging him upstairs. With that done you got his arm around your shoulder, wrapped your free arm around his waist, and forced yourself to stand up. Regardless if it was the regeneration or his muscle filled tail weighing him down he was far heavier than you expected. It was a struggle to walk him to the staircase itself, the task only grew harder as you began to climb upwards. A low growl escaped as muscles let out their little cries and wails of pain with each step taken "Come on" you thought. Despite the chill of his body small beads of sweat still formed and dropped from your head as you continued up each step. Eyes caught sight of a slick spot on the stairs and a familiar white body resting nearby, the 21 on it's back letting you know that you had lost one of the 8 given to you. Cursing under your breath there was nothing more that you could do aside from avoid the puddle on the steps and continue your way upwards. As you reached the top of the stairs a faint movement let you give out a sigh of relief "Pentious?" his eyes seemed almost glazed over but none the less they were open. Though still a challenge it was just a tad bit easier with him somewhat helping as you kept carrying him down the hall. Just past the door to his room another egg laid splattered on the ground "Did he kill them all?" you thought to yourself. "No that's impossible, they were all scattered" you brushed it off as just another egg that somehow managed to crack itself open thanks to an accident. Careful not to further cause damage you move him inside, set him on the bathroom floor, and started the water. You only left for a split second to lock his bedroom door before you returned and locked yourself in the bathroom with him. Against a demon like the one you just faced a locked door wouldn't do much but if it brought about just the faintest illusion of safety then the door would be locked. Reaching into the cabinet there were several little glass vials resting on the side, their little wooden stand marked with a little label that simply read "Pain killers" and had a little visual instruction of what to do with them. No doubt the instructions were for the eggs if they needed to carry out the task. The faint sound of water splashing caught your attention, Pentious didn't even wait for the solution to be poured in, he just slithered in and rested his head against the side of the tub. Walking over there wasn't much to do besides pour the little vial into the water and help pull away what little remained of his dress shirt and bowtie. Even the black blow was so drenched in blood that it too was stained. Colored tears fell into the bath leaving a faint mark before they vanish after a brief clash against the bloodied water, you wrapped your arms around his head and held him close to your chest. Eyes were desperate to see him regenerate, desperate to hear him make some sort of snarky remark, desperate to see him shake off the look of defeat on his face. "You... imbecile..." he let out a small sigh and, despite being soaking wet, began slowly wrapping his arms around your waist. "Charging at him like a wild animal... that had to be... the most idiotic thing I've ever had to witness" you flinched as the water seeped into your clothes, uncomfortable yes but his power hug made it somewhat tolerable. An odd cracking made its presence in the room, you did your best to peer through the mess of blood, sure enough it was ribs and flesh molding themselves back into place. A part of you wished that you could have done something sooner but given that you had been down for a while there really wasn't much that could have been done. Despite the regeneration process being complete he still seemed pale aside from the spot that just healed up on his chest. A small hiss of annoyance seemed to escape him as he brought his claws closer to his face, eyes narrow as if he could hardly see anything in front of him "Well, since the eggs aren't here... mind giving me a hand?" you were unsure of what he was talking about till you saw his claws start to pull away the grayish skin to reveal those shiny black scales you knew before. You don't know why but somehow him shedding his skin didn't seem all that surprising to you, he was a snake demon after all. It wasn't hard to help trail a claw and make a long cut that he could slither out of, it was somewhat weird watching him just wiggle and break out of an old skin but at the same time it was weirdly satisfying. Slithering out he just quickly dried himself off with a towel and tossed the old tissue aside "So care to explain what happened? Did the radio demon get bored and wander off or did the princess force him to abscond?" though he tried he just sounded exhausted to you. "The princess was the one with the blonde hair, right?" you asked as he slithered out of the bathroom and over to the closet "Yes, that was her" he confirmed. "She came inside and he just... dropped everything" you explained. There was just silence as Pentious threw on a random jacket and slithered over to his door, no dress shirt, no bow, and not even bothering to button up his jacket like he was too tired to even give a shit about anything. The moment he slithered out he let out a higher pitched whistle, it echoed down the hall for only a moment before falling once again into silence. There was no little scrambling of dozens of legs, no calls that they'll be right there, no doors opening, nothing but silence. The first time he called for his minions this morning a mess of eggs came running to him, but now there was nothing. That look of defeat just further coating his face as he let out a whistle once again, though slightly louder than the other once again there was no response. "Curse it!" he hissed, you could only follow him as he trailed down the hall and back down the stairs to the mess that lied in the main room. He was still for only a moment before he darted across the yolk stained floor and down that familiar path to the production area. Though you were already a mess you took the time to walk slowly though the yolky room to avoid further crushing the eggs bodies. As you made your way across the room you noticed something odd sticking out of a mess of yolk and egg shells. Walking over eyes fell upon that hat that Sir Pentious normally wore, it was almost completely hidden by the cracked body of one of the little egg bois. It gave you a concerned look but seemed to relax as you carefully picked it up and brushed the blood and egg bits off of it. The poor thing must have gotten knocked off when Pentious was first slammed into ground. With his hat in your hands you headed down towards the little production room to continue following the serpent. You expected to hear the rhythmic clanks and hisses of the machines but there was just silence as you descended. When eyes were finally able to see into the large room you understood why it was still so quiet. Large claws marks had been raked across the metal leaving large gashes that showed the damaged mechanical organs of the machines. Pentious stood besides what remained of the control panel, the whole thing looked like it had been ripped up from the ground and torn into several pieces. Eyes watched in silence as he picked up a chunk of what remained and looked at it, you couldn't help jumped as he let out a frustrated yell and chucked the mess of plastic and wires against the wall. Bits of plastic breaking apart and shooting off intot he far corners of the room "God damn it! Why the fuck did it have to be him?!? She could have brought anyone else but noooooo! She just had to bring The Radio Demon!" Pissed off wasn't close to describing how mad he was. "This is going to take weeks to repair" he only seemed to grow more agitated as he slithered over and grabbed one of the crates of parts lingering in the corner. With a furious huff he tore the lid off not even caring as it split in two when it collided with the wall behind him. Without missing a beat he quickly picked up the now open crate and started carrying it closer to the large egg machine. "Hang on a second" there was a loud clatter as he practically slammed the crate on the floor, his hood flaring up as he turned to face you. "What?!" it was almost intimidating how he snapped at you but tiredness kept fear form rising as his outburst. "I get you wanna fix this as fast as possible, but you're tired, pissed, and more likely to break shit out of rage" you explained "Just leave it for now, we can deal with this once we've fully recovered" you finished. "You can go right ahead but I'm actually going to try and fix this mess" he hissed out, you rolled your eyes as he started pulling spare gears, panels, and wiring out of the crate. Walking over you set his hat back on his head, though sleep was tugging at your thoughts you went into the crate and began to pull out and organize the spare parts with him. Though you didn't understand the mechanics behind the machine, what the parts were, or even what the tools were, you figured it wouldn't hurt to try and lend a hand. At the very least it you figured you could stop him from accidentally breaking anything else out of rage.