May's New Pet
May shuddered as she made eye contact with the snake. Well, once she realized it was there. Could it even see her?
'White Python' it's sticker read. And above it was a large sticker that said "Hello, my name is JACK", the last word scrawled in crude blue marker.
She'd gone through this same routine with "Jack" for about a month now. Shaun had suggested she adopt a pet and for weeks she'd come in through her local pet shop to browse. And while everything was cute, she always found herself in an intense staredown with the snake. It just looked so... out of place in comparison to all the furry little companions. Of course there were the options of lizards and spiders, but none were as imposing as Jack.
Maybe it was the ghostlike glow of his scales in the dark cage. Or the red patterns dotting around his face. There might've also been a bit of her religious upbringing warning her of the foreboding serpent that always seemed to make eye contact with her and her alone.
"Looks like Jack likes you." One of the employees would joke. Though May could always see the uneasiness in their body language when passing the animal.
She could understand. He was terrifying.
---
May tried to steady her breathing as she held out her hand to the snake. It's tongue zipped out a couple of times to catch her scent but otherwise it made no move.
"It's okay... it's okay." She whispered, more to herself than it.
Why did I even do this? What was there to prove?
It just kept... staring at her! She'd heard somewhere that staring down animals meant to challenge them. But she didn't get that vibe at all from Jack. It was more like a kid staring at you before saying something like they'd peed the bed or threw up.
Anticipation and then...exhaustion? Cripes, she wasn't making any sense.
May jolted upon feeling the cold scales creep up her arm. She looked down and Jack stopped slithering. Seems she'd zoned out while he did so...
She was almost amazed the thing had moved. And when it seemed to backtrack she protested.
"No, hey! It's...it's alright!" She said.
Another grating staredown later, Jack crept back up her arm, and with each inch he seemed to get bolder - no longer cautious. Almost... trusting?
May held back a shudder when he slid behind her neck and rested across her shoulders, wrapping himself around her like a necklace.
"Jeez... aren't you cozy?"
She heard a subtle hiss.
"You like it there?"
Another hiss.
She spent the rest of the day carrying him on her neck. There were times she held out her arms as a silent plea to slither off, but he preferred a place on her neck.
Jack was a clingy snake, but she could get used to that.
---
Idek man I just wanted to write a pet au. I heard snakes can't feel emotion, but they can be comfortable with their owners.
They scare the dickens out of me though.
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some great reward will be coming my way
teehee long hair era toby oneshot fic. AND a depeche mode song lyric. it's more likely than you think
summary: Tobias is getting ready for a work event when Jack comes by. They have a Conversation(tm).
Tobias heard the apartment door open. "I'm in the bathroom," he said loudly, while trying to untangle his fingers from the mess that appeared while trying to tie a tie.
He heard footsteps behind the bathroom door, and soon Jack was perking from behind it. "Hey, didn't think you'd be awake so early."
"Miracles happen, eh?" Tobias smirked and turned to him, "I knew this thing-," he gestured at the tie, "-would bring problems, so I woke up early enough to actually get it done. Still failed. It's so ridiculous, who thought that creating something like this would be a fun thing." He leaned on the counter and opened his shirt a little. "God I am not used to this kind of outfits, like, at all. Why are turtlenecks not part of semi-formal attire. Anyway! What are you doing here?"
Jack walked in and stood in front of him. "I thought I could come in and wake you up, you know. Maybe take you to the coffee shop."
"Mm, sounds kinda nice. Would love to go for a quick coffee."
"Or something else, maybe?" Jack murmured as he reached for the tie hanging miserably on Toby's shirt. "Can't tell if I wanna help you tie this or take everything off."
"Maybe take it off later," Tobias smirked, "Now, if you'd help me out, I would definitely owe you."
"Sounds exciting," Jack got vloser, maybe more closer than necessary, and started tying the tie. "Why are you dressing up like this, anyway?"
"Jack, c'mon, I told you like twice already-"
"Going to some nature lovers' party? With all the...green."
"Come on, Jack. Who do we work for? Got this from the office. Not like I want to go look for some suits at stores on my non-existent free time."
"Office? You mean, you're going to some corpo event?"
"You really don't remember, do you?"
Jack stared at him, clueless. "Honestly, no idea. Don't we have a normal work day today. And then all the planning in the evening..." He leaned in closer, "...unless we reschedule it."
"Is that all what you think of?" Tobias looked at him for a moment and sighed. "Christ, you can't be serious. I told you two times, and you even sounded sooo excited when I was telling you about it-", he turned around and looked in the mirror, "-unless you weren't actually listening to me."
"Wait, you're talking about that...eh...the prize or something?" Jack's hands froze. "You're actually agreeing on it?"
"You're telling me I shouldn't accept something I earned?"
"Two years of work and all you get is a piece of paper. Nothing special in that. You'd deserve so much more."
"It is what it is, though. Why shouldn't I be happy about getting a prize for my hard work?"
"A corporation prize. I thought you're better than that, honestly," Jack muttured, "Say, why do you even want to be in the team if you're happily accepting pieces of paper from someone who you're fighting against?"
"I-what? I am only in it because I want to show what happened to people. Not because-", he paused and took a deep breath. "God, okay. Let's calm down. I'm going to the event because I want a pretty piece of paper telling that I coded something that no one has ever done, and because I'm the youngest person to everget that kind of thing. You know, just in case I'm gonna look for a job in the future, okay? It's not like I want to do random gigs and tasks forever as a side-job instead of having a stable job."
"Uh-huh, sure, whatever."
"Think I don't deserve it?"
Jack finished his tie. "No. I think you deserve much more."
"Well, you don't really sound like it...Sorry. I'm just a bit nervous."
"Toby, do whatever you want. Just remember what we're gonna do."
"Okay, yeah. Uh."
"So, what about the evening?"
"I-I'll think about it. I'll message you?"
"Yeah, sure," Jack kissed him quickly, "See you then."
Tobias watched him leave and waited for the sound of closing door, turned back to face the mirror and leaned on the sink. Hopefully I still have the leftover make up to hide those puffy eyes.
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