Chapter Text
Molly hummed softly to herself, radio playing quietly in the background as her four deft hands went over her needlepoint. Poor Pentious always seemed a little on edge whenever she had it on, but he had agreed that it was fine as long as she kept it off of swing music, which he had a particular aversion to. Molly didn’t mind. She’d always preferred pop anyway.
Her roommate was in the kitchen, attempting to cook them dinner (attempting being the operative word). She could smell the scent of burning wafting into the sitting room, and she winced slightly. It’s alright. He only wants to help, she reminded herself.
“Dinner is served!” the serpent announced proudly, slithering into the living room, and Molly set her sewing aside, following him back into the kitchen with a smile.
“Wow!” Molly said, beaming up at Pentious. “This looks great! Let’s dig in!”
The snake smiled back nervously. He still didn’t seem used to accepting compliments, or really any sort of positivity, and the constant harassment from Lute and a few other former exorcists definitely wasn’t helping. But, Molly thought resolutely, that just means I’ll have to be twice as nice to make up for it.
Sir Pentious dished heaping portions onto each of their plates and the two moved to the dining room, chatting quietly. The dining room was obviously meant for a larger group, although Molly hoped he didn’t notice. She didn’t actually have many friends to invite over–her spidery form made her the object of quiet mistrust from a lot of the more closed-minded residents of Heaven, which she was certain was only exacerbated by her friendship with the snake.
She began to eat quietly. Despite how overcooked the meat was, the rest of the meal was actually surprisingly decent. She was about to say as much to Sir Pentious when she noticed that he didn’t seem to be eating, merely staring down at his plate and pushing his food around aimlessly. Her eyes narrowed.
“Pent?” she asked. “Why aren’t you eating?”
The serpent looked up, a startled, guilty expression on his face. “What? Oh. Well, I…I suppose I haven’t had much of an appetite lately. I’m a bit homesick. Hell wasn’t always the best place to live, but I do miss the connections I made. Charlie, Vaggie, Niffty…” He trailed off.
“And Cherri Bomb?” Molly finished. She had heard him say the name a few times, though not in any real detail, and she had to admit she was curious.
He sighed. “Yes. I do miss Cherri, very much.”
“Tell me about her,” Molly said. “I mean, you don’t have to. But you’ve mentioned her so often that I can’t help but wonder.”
Pentious sighed, an almost dreamy look in his eyes. “Well…I guess you could call us rivals. After exterminations, during the inevitable scuffles, we would often end up clashing, and I must admit…her pyromaniac tendencies and disrespectful attitude quite bewitched my mind. After a few years, I was utterly smitten. But it took nearly fifty years for me to confess my feelings, and by then, well…we shared one kiss, and…” He spread his hands, as if to indicate his heavenly surroundings. “You know the rest.”
Molly pressed one hand to her chest, startled to feel the beginnings of tears stinging in her eyes. “Why, Pentious! I had no idea. Oh, I’m so sorry.”
He waved a hand. “Ah, don’t worry, Molly. Cherri is a good person, deep down. I’m sure I’ll see her up here soon enough.”
The spider smiled, pushing thoughts of Anthony from her head determinedly. He’s here already. I just need to keep looking. He wasn’t…he didn’t…there’s no way.
“What did she look like?” Molly asked hurriedly in an effort to distract herself. Sir Pentious practically glowed at the question.
“Oh, she was beautiful. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She had the most beautiful pink hair and eye, and freckles on her shoulders, and she always wore a lot of makeup, which I usually think looks a bit silly, but it looked very nice on her, and…” He stopped, embarrassed. “My apologies, Molly, I do hope you’ll forgive my rambling on. Everyone always did say I never knew when to shut up.”
Molly gasped. “Why, who said that? How rude!”
“Ah…well, Cherri, for one. But don’t hold it against her! She really is a very sweet woman.”
Molly laughed. “Okay, okay. Well, I don’t think you talk too much. I like hearing you talk about Cherri Bomb, she sounds lovely, really, all your friends down there do. It’s a shame that they’ve ended up where they are, but you’re living proof that there’s hope for them, why, aren’t you?” She beamed at him.
He smiled back at her genuinely. “Thank you, Molly.”
The two lapsed back into silence as they ate, before Molly had an idea. “Hey! What if we go to the movies? There’s a great little theater nearby that shows stuff from Earth, I’m pretty sure that right now there’s some sort of action picture running with a lot of explosions.” She practically sang that last word.
Pentious perked up. “Explosions? Really?”
“Sure!” Molly promised. “And if there isn’t, then we can watch one on the TV back here.” Pentious flinched as soon as the word “TV” left her mouth, and she frowned slightly. “Or not.” What is with this guy and certain forms of media?
“The theater sounds very nice, Molly,” Sir Pentious said. “I would be honored to accompany you to see one of these moving pictures.”
She grinned back, those teeth that had always been just a bit too sharp to fit in with the rest of Heaven gleaming in the light of the dining room. “Wonderful! Ooh, what’ll I wear?”
She took her plate to put in the sink, then ran to her room, leaving Pentious in the dining room to mull over his own thoughts as the sound of her heels faded. It seemed every day, he was noticing new similarities between Molly and Angel Dust–the love for fashion, the pointed teeth, the massive hair. There was practically no doubt in his mind that Angel Dust and her Anthony were one and the same. But…how could he tell her that? She was still convinced that her brother had made it–that he was a “Winner”. He didn’t want to be the one to crush her hopes.
He was jolted from his musings by Molly running back in, dressed in a hot pink mini dress with a matching clutch. “Are you ready?” she asked, bouncing. “It’s nice to finally have somebody around who I can watch Earth stuff with. Don’t get me wrong, Emmy’s a great friend, but by gosh, you can’t so much as curse in front of the poor thing without her practically fainting.”
Her face grew slightly sad, and Sir Pentious knew that the thoughts on her mind were likely similar to those on his own–wondering how their friend could possibly be faring in Hell, where she would be exposed to much worse than a little uncouth language daily. Molly sighed. “Well, anyway. It’s nice, having you around. You haven’t got a stick up your ass like most of the rest of the people here.”
Sir Pentious’s eyes widened at her vulgar statement, and she giggled. “Come on, Pent. Let’s get there in time for the trailers.”
As they walked out of the apartment, Pentious gave one last, lingering look at the picture of Molly and Anthony by the door, before he shut off the lights and followed his friend.