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The sound of knocking roused you from your morning nap, and you grumbled immediately at being woken up.
“Who is it?” You snapped.
“It’s me. Pentious.” You heard his voice respond chipperly, and you groaned as you stood up and slouched towards the door.
“What the Hell are you-” Your words died a bit as you snagged open the door, and took in the sight of Pentious standing there, holding a small plate of food.
He held out the plate towards you as your brain buffered.
“I noticed you misssed breakfast, ssso I made you a plate.” He said.
Again. This wasn’t the first time you had missed breakfast, but it was by choice. You really couldn’t deal with all of the people being so chipper and happy early in the morning. Charlie was more than enough to handle when she was in a good mood, but if you had to listen to Alastor remark how you’d look prettier with a smile on your face one more time…
He cleared his throat, and after a moment gently set the plate on the desk just inside the doorway.
“I’ll just…”
“Why?”
He blinked. “Why what?”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
This was far from the first time Pentious had been so outwardly friendly to you. Since day one, he went out of his way to try and drag you into conversations, was overly excited to help you with anything (even though you could always ask Batty) that came up, and overall just seemed to be going out of the way to be nice to you. And it put you off. Nobody was nice for no reason.
You narrowed your eyes. “Why do you even care so much? You don’t even know me. What are you getting out of this?”
Pentious held up his hands, waving them placatingly.
“Nothing! I ssswear.”
“Then why?” You growled.
He swallowed. “… I know what it’sss like, to not be able to trussst people. To not have friendsss. It’sss not a good way to live. You miss out on a lot… I just want to be your friend.”
“I don’t have friends for a reason.” You crossed your arms, scowling. “You can’t trust anyone, no matter what. They all just come back to stab you in the back anyway.”
“What about Batty? You’re friendly with her.” Pentious piped up.
“… Batty couldn’t hurt a fly. She’s too sweet.” You grumbled, reluctantly you might add.
“What about me? Don’t you trussst me?” He asked.
“No.”
“Why not?” He almost seemed a bit hurt by how blunt your answer was.
You deadpanned. “How many times have you started fights in the streets? Turf wars? Built weapons of mass destruction? Fought with other overlords?”
“That wasss the old me. I’m not like that anymore.” He defended.
You sighed. “Look, just stop trying, okay? Just give up on me like everyone else ends up doing…” You couldn’t keep the hurt out of your voice, but you were just as quick to bury it and harden yourself. “It’s only a matter of time anyway, I’m just saving you the trouble.”
Before he could try and argue, you slammed the door in his face and leaned back against it, gritting your teeth harshly.
Fuck, you did not need this.
Pentious stood still as you slammed the door back in his face, feeling more than a little bit hurt at the lack of trust you had in him even after these past few weeks of trying to be kind and welcoming. He had done everything he could think of to make your stay more welcoming…
He slithered away, leaving you be for now, but he only felt a stronger determination to break through to you.
He was not going to give up so easily, and that was a promise!
You sat in the seat at the edge of the bar, eying up Batty as she sat cuddled with Angel and sipped on a drink Husk had made super sweet just for her. You had gotten decently comfortable with the pair of them, mainly since they were Batty’s boyfriends and you knew they had to be good guys if she was so smitten with them. And they were. Husk was probably more on your level in terms of not being able to stand most people, and Angel was nice enough despite sex jokes, but both of them were pretty genuine guys… Batty still normally led the conversations though, given you still were a long stretch from being friends with anyone here.
“So…” She trailed off, eying your only barely sipped drink. “How’s Pentious doing?”
You rolled your eyes, propping your chin up on your hand.
“He’s still not giving up.” You sighed. “I don’t get why he keeps trying.”
“He’s just trying to be friendly. It’s all innocent.” She reassured.
Husk chuckled. “Pentious isn’t a bad guy.”
“Yeah.” Angel chimed in. “Bit dorky and awkward, and he’s harmless. Got a good heart.”
You waved it off dismissively.
Batty giggled. “I think it’s sweet he’s trying so hard.” She leaned in, smiling reassuringly at you. “You should give him a chance. You gave me one.”
“You’re a lot different than he is, Batty.” You mused, choosing to drop the subject by continuing to nurse your drink as the boys affirmed your comment.
Still… You had to admit that it had been starting to settle with you, the idea of giving him a chance. You had tried to ignore him, you really did, but you’d admit that his repeated tries to be friendly and kind had passed the threshold from being annoying to actually being a bit… Endearing. No one had ever tried so hard before, and not for this long.
Maybe… Ugh, you were getting way too soft.
You sat just inside the door that led out of one of the many balconies of the hotel, watching the rain fall in soft torrents outside. The overhang of the roof thankfully kept you from getting wet, and the rainier day meant most of the residents were tucked away in their own rooms, so you had the space to yourself for now. You found it relaxing, just watching the rain and listening to it. It reminded you a lot of where you had grown up…
A throat clearing made your ears perk up, and your tail stilled from where it had been slightly swaying. You snapped your head back to the source, eying Pentious’s slightly tense look before you dropped your gaze to what was in his hands.
Two mugs, with tea bags dangling from the side.
When you didn’t immediately snap on him, his shoulders straightened.
“I’m sssorry if I’m bothering you, but I made you some tea.”
He held the mug out towards you, and you very slowly accepted it, after a moment of thought.
You were born in London, so you took your tea very seriously, and were very particular with your tea. When you took the briefest of sips, you were honestly surprised how he nailed it. You meant it. Favorite brand, flavor, and he got the sugar ratio just right…
Pentious watched you anxiously, but relaxed a bit as you took another sip. A clear sign of approval that he had gotten it right or close enough to it.
“Uhm, I can leave you be if you prefer? I don’t want to bother you.”
The usual remark to make him leave was on the tip of your tongue, but it didn’t come. Instead, something else came out.
“You don’t have to.” You cleared your throat. “If you’re not busy, that is.”
“Oh! Oh, I, um, I’m not…” He hesitated, then slowly slithered over and sat next to you,
A semi-awkward silence fell over the both of you as you sat there, sipping at your teas, and it really drove you crazy despite it most definitely coming from your end.
After a bit of prodding from your softening subconscious, you peeked over at him.
“Thanks for this, by the way. It’s good.”
You felt your lips twitch up as he visibly perked up, a happy smile on as you acknowledged his good work. The first you ever had, to be fair… You weren’t fair to him, you really weren’t, and you actually felt more than a bit bad about it. All the effort he had put into it had really gone unacknowledged by you.
“You know…” You started. “No one’s ever tried so hard before. To try and be friendly. I honestly thought you’d have given up by now.”
“One thing you can count on me for isss my persissstence.” He beamed.
“Clearly.” You mused, letting yourself smile just a little as you fell into idle chit chat with him.
You went to force yourself to relax, like you normally did when in social interactions, and found that you didn’t really have to as much.
It actually, genuinely, felt nice.
Maybe it was okay to make this a more regular thing.