Rembering Grayson at this point in ti makes him even more guilty and ashad. Without conscious thought, Neville’s hand moved to stroke along the snake’s back. The texture was surprisingly soothing under his fingers. He found his anxiety easing with each gentle pet.
The little black snake seed to approve, pressing closer against his touch with a soft hiss that sounded almost like a sigh.
"You’re not supposed to be here, you know," Neville told it, continuing his nagging. "This is the employee dormitory. No pets allowed."
"Are you a beastman? But you should be able to transform back to your human form like in dayti." He glanced around the empty hallway, searching for any sign of who might have left the snake at his door. "Did your owner abandon you? Would you like to keep you?"
The hallway remained empty. Just Neville with a strange snake wrapped around his leg.
Then Neville suddenly had a thought, "Did you escape?"
The little black snake tilted its head again.
"But you don’t act like a normal snake at all," he murmured, staring back at the snake’s silver eyes again.
The little black snake blinked slowly, once. If Neville didn’t know better, he swore it understood him.
A door opened sowhere down the hall, and panic flared in Neville’s chest.
Was it the owner?
But judging from how casual and normal the footsteps were, Neville was sure that person wasn’t the owner of this snake. If soone saw him like this, with an illegal snake wrapped around his leg, questions would be asked.
The footsteps were getting closer. He needed to make a split-second decision. Neville carefully scooped the snake up from his legs, trying not to jostle it too much. It cooperated beautifully, transferring its coils from his leg to his arms without protest.
"Good snake," he whispered, then felt ridiculous for talking to it like a dog. "Just... stay quiet, okay?"
He ducked back into his room just as the other person rounded the corner. That person seed to be chatting with soone on his light brain. The door clicked shut behind him. Neville slumped against it, heart racing.
"That was close." He muttered as he sighed.
Then he looked down at the little black snake apologetically. "Good boy."
Then a passing thought ca to him: how could he determine if a snake was male or female?
Never mind, he would search it later. For now, he would treat it like a male since it resembled Grayson a lot.
The little black snake seed to like the praise. He lifted its head to better display the graceful curve of its neck. Now that he could see it properly in the light of his room, Neville noticed details he had missed in the hallway.
There were two interesting small bumps on the snake’s head, barely visible beneath the scales. They were positioned symtrically, right where horns might grow.
Neville’s fingers found them almost unconsciously, pressing gently against the raised areas.
The little black snake shivered and pressed harder against his hands.
"Sensitive there?" Neville asked, genuinely curious now.
He moved his grip, supporting the little black snake’s weight properly. He felt two more bumps further down its back. These were larger, more pronounced, and positioned to where wings might attach if there were any.
"If these bumps grew sothing, you’ll look like a dragon." He comnted in amazent.
Neville was already moving, grabbing a spare towel from his bathroom and arranging it into a makeshift nest on his bed. He placed the little black snake carefully in the center, watching as it imdiately coiled into a comfortable position.
"Stay here," he instructed as he checked on the ti in his light brain. "I need to... I’ll be right back."
The little black snake’s silver eyes tracked his movent to the door. Neville could swear he saw disappointnt in them. The guilt hit harder this ti, mixing with an inexplicable fondness for the creature.
"I’m just going to HR," he explained, feeling only slightly insane for talking to a snake like it was a person. "I need to extend my vacation, and then I’ll co back and figure out what to do with you. Okay?"
The little black snake lowered its head to rest on its coils, as if it were accepting its fate of being abandoned in this room. Neville hesitated at the door, struck by how small and vulnerable it looked curled up on his plain white towel.
"I’ll bring you food too," he added impulsively. "Do you like Level-4 Cosmic Beast at? Or... fish? Do snakes eat fish?"
"Normal snake rules might not apply to interstellar pets," Neville thought and pondered again.
He grabbed an empty fruit basket from the kitchen and lined it with another towel. If he was going to carry the little black snake around, he needed sothing less conspicuous than just cradling it in his arms.
"Co on," he said, holding the basket out. "Let’s make this quick."
The little black snake perked up imdiately, practically flying from the bed into the basket with an eagerness that made Neville’s chest tight. Once settled, only its head peeked out from beneath the towel, silver eyes bright with excitent.
Neville threw a light jacket over the basket, hiding the little black snake from everyone’s eyes. The weight was negligible; the little black snake was far lighter than he thought.
The journey to HR took less than ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Every person Neville passed seed to stare at his covered basket with curiosity. By the ti he reached the Human Resources departnt, sweat was beading on his forehead.
The reception area was thankfully empty except for a single robot interface manning the front desk. Neville approached it naturally.
"Good morning," he said. "I need to speak with Lisa from HR. It’s about extending my vacation ti."
The robot’s optical sensors focused on him. "One mont, please. I will notify Ms. Lisa Torrez of your arrival, Mr. Hope."
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