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“V, what the fuck is this?” Awsten called, obviously upset.
When he got back to their temporary camp after his patrol that evening, he had expected Geoff and Otto to be either asleep or sat next to the fire talking quietly while they waited for him to come back.
What he had not expected, however, was a snake curled in his bedding, its head painted Fandom green like his mask, and two concerningly nonexistent Killjoys. The snake didn’t seem very dangerous just now, Awsten thought to himself, but he never know what it might do if he disturbed it. However, he had spent the past week with minimal sleep only caught in twenty minute naps curled up in the car while Geoff drove them through the desert, and he really really needed that stuff if he wanted to get any meaningful rest before the sun rose again. Disturbing the snake and risking his life for his sleep was looking like an increasingly alluring plan as he contemplated it, though he was interrupted by the appearance of Geoff and Otto, who had heard him calling from over the nearby dune.
“That’s Travis the Snake, we found him while you were out.”
“Why the fuck did you name a potentially deadly snake Travis and then let it sleep on my shit?”
“Because he was cute,” Otto said like it was obvious.
“But it’s probably dangerous?!”
“ He, not it , Royal, and New Wave checked. We’re fairly sure he’s safe.”
“If you want, we could take him to Kobra tomorrow and see if he knows what kind of snake he is?” Geoff piped up. Otto nodded agreeably.
Awsten facepalmed. "Just because his name is a variety of snake does not mean that he knows everything about them."
"It was just a suggestion." Geoff pouted.
——
Democracy sucked, Awsten decided as he sat in the passenger seat of the car staring out at the desert rushing past. In theory, democracy was supposed to be everybody else agreeing with him because he was obviously the coolest and had the best ideas, but in reality Geoff and Otto teamed up against him all the time. It was so unfair.
"Royal, stop sulking. We were overdue for a visit anyway, and even if Kobra doesn’t know what kind of snake he is then at least Travis gets to meet new people, right?"
Awsten huffed. Otto had passed out in the back about half an hour ago as he was wont to do, and so Geoff had decided that Travis was now Awsten’s responsibility, a task he had accepted grudgingly with no small amount of complaining. The snake was curled around his arm, seemingly content with watching the sand rush by and Awsten looked at him fondly before remembering that he was supposed to dislike him. As loath as he was to admit it, Awsten was beginning to warm up to the snake, though he still refused to call it Travis. It was hardly worth naming something that was going to die in a week, but the boys seemed to like it well enough. Simple happiness of that kind was hard to find in the zones, and it was hardly hurting anyone, so Awsten decided to leave them be. Plus Travis was pretty cute.
——
As it turned out, that was not how Kobra and the other Killjoys felt about Travis. When they turned up at the diner, breathing sighs of relief when they realised the trans am was there and their trip wasn’t useless, Ghoul had burst out of the doorway excitedly and ran to greet them, stopping short when Travis’ green head poked up from Otto’s lap.
"Dude, why do you have a snake in your car? You know those things are dangerous, right? That’s not a thing they leave out of city education?"
As if by magic, Kobra and Party Poison appeared behind him, also clearly wary of Travis. "Ghoul, you underestimate the City. That is totally something they leave out of the education system. But still, any self-respecting Killjoy who has lived this long in the desert should know not to trust a snake." Party looked pointedly at Otto, who now had Travis curled around his neck and was stroking him softly. It was clear that Party did not think any of the Noise Boys were self-respecting Killjoys. The boys in question stepped out of the car, and Ghoul stepped behind Kobra and Party fearfully, eyes laser focused on the tiny reptile in Otto’s arms.
Party edged in front of the other two, as if to shield them from Travis, though they stopped when Kobra put his hand on thieir shoulder and stepped forward.
"Royal, why does V have a snake covered in paint? I thought we talked about this. V is way too chaotic and forgetful to have a pet," Kobra pulled him out of ear shot then, Otto still grinning happily and very distracted by Travis, "He even killed that cactus you gave him. Do you remember how distraught he got? Imagine what will happen if your snake dies. Plus, snakes are kind of... disturbing?"
Awsten’s face twisted like he was trying to figure something out. "Kobra, are you... afraid? Of snakes, I mean."
"Of course not, they’re just disconcerting, and Ghoul doesn’t like them much, so of course I’m going to be wary of them," Kobra spluttered, very obviously attempting to bullshit his way out of the situation.
"Destroya, you really are scared!" Awsten could barely be understood he was laughing so hard, "And your name is Kobra! The irony! Wait ‘till I tell the others! Wave’s gonna be in tears!"
Kobra grabbed his arm just as he was about to call out. "If you tell anyone, I will castrate you, then kill you, then use your body as bait for the dracs. Don’t test me, Royal. My sibling may like you, but it doesn’t mean you have to stay alive."
"Party likes me? No way. They very obviously hate all three of us. They think we’re idiots."
"Are you kidding me? We all think you’re idiots and definitely not serious enough to have survived this long, but Party still thinks you’re pretty chill. They just think they have to pretend to be serious around everyone because they're famous or something."
"Really?"
"Yes. But please, I swear to Destroya, get rid of that snake. He’s terrifying." Kobra’s voice quietened on the last words, so much so that Awsten could barely hear him. He grinned.
"What was that, Kobra? You want to hang out with Travis more? I’m sure I could arrange a couple of play dates with Party if you really wanted," He teased.
"Fuck off."
Over by the cars, Ghoul seemed to be edging even further away from Travis, now behind Jet Star and nearly in the doorway of the diner. He called out to Kobra as the two of them walked back into view.
"Hey Kobra, your sibling’s being a dick again, could you get them to stop?" He indicated to Party, who was now holding Travis and cooing over him with Otto and Geoff.
Kobra looked over once, long enough to hear Party exclaim that Travis was ‘like a big piece of Bologna!’ then walked over to where Ghoul was standing. It was a far enough distance from Travis to feel safe, Awsten noticed.
Jet piped up at that moment. "Did you three want to stay the night, or did you have places to be? I’m sure we have some space in here somewhere, and Soul Punk is due over tomorrow if you wanted to see him."
"That sounds brilliant, thank you Jet. Will Ghoul and Kobra be okay with Travis staying too?" Awsten’s face was plastered with a shit eating grin as he answered. He barely made it to the end of his sentence before he had to run, Kobra hot on his heels.
"I warned you, bitch!"