Red Rose (Steven X Red Steven)

1

The skies have turned a beautiful shade of purple, blue, and pink as the sun slowly descends from its throne in the sky. The weather is nice and cool, definitely perfect for evening strolls. A fresh wind blew gently as the light drapes of the curtain that framed the glass doors to the balcony gently billows as a young boy sat on the carpeted floor. Earphones plugged in as he listened to his playlist. Eyes closed in bliss as he sang softly. Unbeknownst to him, a voice had been calling him a few times now.

"Stevie."

The boy hummed softly, bobbing his head as he sang, *"If all of the Kings have their Queens on the throne we would pop champagne and raise a toast~"*

"Stevie!"

He hummed as he gently stroked his beautiful albino Burmese Python that is currently wrapped around his waist and shoulders, her head nestled in the crook of his neck. She needs a lot of body heat since the weather is getting colder. He made a mental note of changing the temperature of her enclosure later.

"Stevan!" The door to his room slammed open, making the boy jump out of his thoughts and pulled out his plug. "Sorry ma, what was that?" He looked back and froze upon seeing his mother giving him a pointed glare.

"Uh oh..." He mutters, sitting up straight as he pats his snake when he felt the reptile tense from his sudden tension. "Um. Sorry ma-" he yelped when his cheek was pinched. "What did I tell you about using earphones on high volume in the house? I've been calling you for 5 minutes!" Pearl says as she pinched the baby fat a bit harder.

"Ow, ow! I'm sorry, ma! I'm sorry!" He cried. His mother spared him mercy and let his cheek go, he rubbed it with a pout on his face, "that hurt... I'm not a kid anymore."
"Then don't act like it." She smiled faintly. His mother, Pearl, is a fair young woman, petite with bright blue eyes and a pointy nose. Her short peach pink hair parted neatly in the middle of her face, a beautiful white pearl located on her forehead. Stevan swore it has a light pink shade to it but perhaps it only varies depending on the light.
"I'm not," Stevan mutters with a pout.

"What's Morse doing out of her enclosure?" She asks as she puts the laundry basket that she was holding down on the floor beside her.
"She was feeling lonely, I thought cuddling would cheer her up." He smiles.

"Don't you think you're spoiling her a bit too much?" Pearl asks as she gently stroked the snake's head with the joint of her finger.
Stevan shrugged, "well, why not? She deserves it and I just finished feeding her so she's extra lazy." He says as he poked his chopnky noodle. Morse happily flicked her tongue out at Pearl, loving the head scratches. She's very friendly and docile, unlike other pythons who are aggressive. Although she does have her sassy days, especially after her shed when she's most sensitive.

"That aside, have you finished your assignments and projects for next week? You know you have to maintain your grades so we can keep the scholarship." Pearl says, giving her son a pointed look.
Stevan gave a small nod as he stood up and went to get the small stack of papers on his desk that was tucked in the corner, moving his jar of paintbrushes aside that he used as a paperweight, and held it out to his mother. He has to clean them out soon.

"I already finished the 2000 word essay about the importance of preserving the forest and the ecosystem instead of manufacturing a bio-machine that consumes fossil fuel in exchange for artificial oxygen." He says as he watched his mother read his essay quietly, analyzing the information that he provided with firm scrutiny.

He waited with bated breath, mindlessly scratching Morse under her chin with his fingers before she moved away on her own accord and wrapped herself tightly more around him.
When his mother gave a small nod, he felt himself breathe out the air he didn't know he was holding. Although her face didn't change, he knew she was satisfied.