Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original "Ninjago: Masters of Spintizu" characters, nor do I own the original settings. I only own Katherine, Beck, Nikkei, Doctor Alan McKullan, Hydro, Chandai and Khozah.
TEN — "Hopeful Thinking"
The garbage fiasco was a kind of turning point for Pythor and Katherine. The bickering – didn't end – lessened. It took almost the entire night to clean up, from the littlest egg shell to any coffee grounds in the carpet. Pythor was amazed at the level of expertise Katherine was at cleaning. He had never seen a more cleanly or tidy human.
She grabbed a bucket filled with water and some kind of cleaner for stains and odors, along with a vacuum and a spray that filled the air with a fresh scent. Katherine was like a warrior fighting against the trash. She took complete control and Pythor simply sat back and watched her clean.
The next day, they didn't address last night at all. They both felt it was better to move on from it and go on with their lives. As mentioned before, their arguing lessened. The two bickered about minor things – like when Pythor hogged the bathroom, or when he'd take a bite of things and put them back when he didn't like them.
That was the one thing that bothered Katherine the most. And it was their main argument the following morning when she opened her fridge and found a half eaten glazed doughnut back in the box. She clicked her tongue as she grabbed it.
Pythor was sitting at the counter with a cup of tea in front of him, relaxing as he waited for the painkillers to kick in. Tea was one of the few things Katherine had in her kitchen that he liked. He drank it more than she did, and she was glad that it wouldn't go to waste – unlike the food he'd bite out of and put back.
"Okay," she sighed, leaning against her fridge and presenting the half eaten doughnut to Pythor, "I don't know if this is a common thing among Serpentine, but taking a bite of something and then putting it back 'cause you don't like it is considered gross and rude to us."
Pythor didn't bat an eye. "I really don't see the problem. You leave half eaten food in there all the time. Like that dough with cheese and those other gross things on it."
"Hawaiian pizza." Katherine corrected as she dropped the doughnut in her garbage. "And that wasn't half eaten. Technically. There's slices of it. You're supposed to save the rest for later – not take a bite and put the rest away."
Then she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across from him on the counter, looking at him rather sternly.
Pythor gave a quiet sigh, looking down at his steaming warm tea.
"...I suppose I do it just out of habit." He admitted, getting Katherine's attention. "If we took a bite into something we didn't like, then we would just offer it to someone else. Every little thing we gathered was important, so we assumed it was better to give someone something we wouldn't eat rather than let it go to waste."
He sighed again, "But, that being said, I will try to put that habit to rest."
Katherine looked at him, quiet for a little bit. This was another common thing since the other night. Pythor was less defensive of things relating to his back story or the other Serpentine. Granted, he wasn't open to discussion about it, but Katherine could see something was different. His behavior was tolerable, and he spoke to her with courtesy.
She looked down, her hands folding around her coffee mug. Then, after a couple moments of painfully awkward silence, Katherine gave a light shrug and sympathized:
"I mean...I get it."
She managed to get an eye ridge lift from Pythor when he looked up at her.
"I'm not mad – as much as I should be, anyway – that you leave half-eaten food around." Katherine clarified. "I was just more-so curious as to why you were doing it. That's all."
Pythor couldn't help but blink at Katherine, and for a moment he couldn't believe that this was the same woman who he'd fought with in a house full of garbage not even forty eight hours ago. Although, now that he was stopping to notice, she did seem more...tolerant of him. Given, even a moron could tell there were moments he easily aggravated her, but at the same time she was becoming more understanding.
Along with her attitude at him improving, her sly comments and sarcastic remarks had stopped (for the most part). Pythor could actually maintain a conversation with her that didn't result in an argument. He had to admit – as nice as it was – he still couldn't adjust to this change, no matter how minor it was.
Good Lord, he thought in the middle of his pause, I'm half-expecting her to end every sentence by calling me an 'ass' or an 'idiot'. At least I would know what to say back to it...
He rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat awkwardly in the process. "Well, I'm...glad it's not that big a deal – "
"That doesn't mean I'll let you keep doing it." Katherine informed, in her no-nonsense tone of voice.
And there was the attitude he was used to.
He tried not to roll his eyes. "Naturally." Pythor replied, as curtly as possible.
There was a pause on her end. It was something she had been meaning to ask him, but since they were constantly at each others' throats, Katherine felt it was better to keep her question to herself, otherwise she would come off as uncaring. But now that she and Pythor could tolerate each other in a positive way, Katherine didn't see the harm in asking.
Pythor noted her silence but he paid it no mind. When she finally did speak it was a question he never imagined she'd ever bring up...
"Are you...Are you worried about them? The other Serpentine?"
Pythor's scaly lips firmed at the question, but not in a defensive way. The question made him tense only out of concern. When he wasn't pitying himself, he was thinking of the other Serpentine. None of them had been found by neither the authorities or the Ninja, which was a massive relief to Pythor. But at the same time there was still a gnawing paranoia whispering 'what if' at him...
"Yes." Pythor replied, his tone solemn as he tried to force down the weakness trying to break lose in his voice. "I've been worried for quite a while now."
Suspiciously, he asked, "I suppose this is the part where you start wringing me for information about their possible whereabouts, hmm?"
Katherine gave him a confused look. "What?"
But Pythor chuckled, dryly. He gave her a cocky head tilt. "Oh, come now. What do you take me for? Just because we're on a civil basis with each other now doesn't mean I'll blindly let my guard down. I still have my pride, you know."
Katherine didn't say anything – and Pythor was sure he had seen through her "game"...if she wasn't giving him the most dumbfounded look he had ever seen. Studying it made Pythor's cocky gleam shatter.
"That's...good to know." Katherine said slowly, humoring the paranoid Anacondrai with a nod. "I mean, nice to know you still have some pride left after what happened to you guys... But that's not why I asked you that question. I just wanted to, you know, see how this whole 'Serpentine Hunt' thing was affecting you. 'Cause I bet it's rough knowing everyone's out to get you guys."
Pythor was now the one with the confused look, but the shock and surprise were both there on his face as well. He blinked at Katherine, unable to believe that...she was sympathizing with him. He studied her demeanor, spotting for any signs of dishonesty or trickery.
Katherine was giving him her full attention, holding her coffee mug thoughtfully with both hands as she was leaned comfortably forward. Those round, chocolate-brown eyes of hers meeting his with a patient and thoughtful gaze.
Pythor had...had never seen a human give him such an honest demeanor before. He almost didn't know what to do with himself for a heartbeat – didn't know what to say. He swallowed, quickly gathering himself back together before clearing his throat.
"Y-Yes." He finally answered her, looking down at the table with a heavy yet numb expression in his eyes. "It hasn't been easy waking up every morning with all this weighing on my mind."
"You think they're okay?" Katherine asked.
Pythor didn't meet her gaze as he nodded slowly. For some reason he couldn't look into those brown orbs and do-so...
"But they're resourceful." Pythor said. "I'm sure despite what yo...what others may think, we aren't stupid. We have a knack at making hiding spots."
"But the main place you guys were hiding in before got destroyed."
Pythor nodded again. "That was either a cave-in done by the Devourer, or by the rest of the Serpentine themselves to cover their tracks."
"That last part sounds a little like hopeful thinking..." Katherine lightly pointed out, making sure her tone didn't come off as uncaring.
Her reply made him chuckle halfheartedly, and he nodded lightly. "Yes...Yes, I suppose it is. But wouldn't you during a trying time like mine?" Pythor asked her, then. When she didn't say anything, he sighed quietly. "Hopeful thinking is all I have right now. I have to think of the best for them...because if I give up on them, then what will they have left? What will I have left? Nothing...absolutely nothing."
Katherine still had nothing to say. She took a sip of her coffee, processing all that. She had to admit, she wasn't expecting him to get deep like that. And...she also realized she was seeing a whole new side of the Anacondrai. A side he was willingly showing her, a side that was vulnerable.
She wasn't sure what to say, and she hoped he wasn't expecting her to. Clearing her throat now and setting her coffee mug down, Katherine scratched the back of her head.
"What about the guy who's responsible for all this?" she asked then, and Pythor's scales tensed so much they constricted his muscles and organs like chains.
"...What about him?" he asked back, acting aloof.
"Well, everyone wants to find him since all of this is his fault...but I'm sure a lot of them haven't figured out that they're looking for someone who already got what he deserved."
That was like a blow to Pythor's stomach. He swallowed, keeping it all inside.
"I-I'm not sure." He said, shrugging slightly. Pythor cleared his throat, going for another sip of his tea. "They may figure it out sooner or later."
Katherine looked at him for a moment. She glanced down before raising her eyes back at him, almost unsure to ask another question on her mind.
"Hey, can...can I ask a personal question?"
Pythor raised his eye ridges at her, a little caught off guard. Boy, she was just a barrel full of questions this morning...
"Depends." He answered, after swallowing his mouthful of tea.
"It's about that guy – the one who unleashed that-that thing."
"The Devourer."
"Yeah, that thing. Did...Did you know him?" she asked. "You didn't really answer last time I asked..."
Pythor nodded, remembering. "I said it didn't matter."
"I know, but were you close to him? You said no one would miss him, but the look on your face when you said it made me wonder if...if you guys were friends or something."
Pythor sighed, getting tired of all her questions. "It. Doesn't. Matter."
Katherine sighed now, unafraid to roll her eyes. Talking to him sometimes was like getting a kid to give up their favorite toy...
"Okay, don't say it doesn't matter, all right." She told him, exasperated. "It's not a trick question. I'm just asking, you know, if you knew the guy or not. If someone I knew did something I was against, it would eat me up inside too."
That statement made him give her a look. "Are you implying something?" Pythor questioned.
"It's easy to tell you feel bad." She said. "I would too."
Pythor's jaw jutted out for a heartbeat as his eyes narrowed at Katherine. He didn't like what she was doing. He didn't like being read like an open book; it was humiliating enough that he had spoken vulnerably in front of a human, Pythor didn't need her exploring where he didn't want her to explore.
"I assure you," Pythor said, "there is no way you can relate to what I'm going through."
"Well, sure, not on every level. But...if you need to talk –"
"I don't." He dismissed, looking her in the eye. "I don't need to talk about it."
Katherine paused. She nodded after a few moments. "Okay...okay. I get it."
With that, she got up and went to her couch in the living room, while Pythor kept his solemn eyes low. He was looking down at his glass...he suddenly couldn't tell if it was half full or half empty.
There was silence majority of the day between them after that. They would mainly exchange glances at each other for a few moments before turning away. Neither of them were used to so much silence between them.
Around seven, Katherine was in the bathroom taking a shower while Pythor sat lazily in the living room. He kept a cushion under his back so he wouldn't put pressure on the wound on his side. It was the first time he was watching TV...and he wasn't quite impressed.
He flipped past channel after channel, able to work the remote from watching Katherine.
"This is seriously what humans do when they're bored...?" Pythor mumbled after flipping through another dozen channels. He sighed and set it down.
Then his eyes wandered to her dart board. Pythor had seen Katherine use it a couple times, but he couldn't quite wrap his brain around it. Pulling out a dart from her drawer beside her couch, Pythor examined it. Then he glanced up at the board...out of a whim, he threw it.
But he had thrown it terribly. The dart bounced right off. Pythor made a face. Katherine had made it look so easy...
"Nice shootin', Pilgrim."
Pythor turned and saw Katherine, her hair damp and towel dried, wearing loose, comfortable clothing. He cleared his throat, nodding towards the board.
"Is that, uh, a hobby of yours?" he asked her.
"Yeah," nodded Katherine. Picking up the dart from the floor before sitting beside him. "My dad taught me how to play. I wasn't a 'typical girl' growing up as a kid. I wasn't into a lot of things the girls my age were. Then one day my dad caught me playing with his dart board, so he showed me. The rest is history."
The she tossed the dart to the board, landing perfectly in the center target.
"It's easy when you get the hang of it." Katherine said, with a light smile at him. "Just takes a lot of practice though...you want to learn?"
Pythor blinked. "Me?" he chuckled dryly. "No."
"Why not?" she asked. "It's fun."
"I don't think I would be good at it."
"So?" Katherine moved over him, minding his injuries as she grabbed more darts from her drawer. "No one's good at anything when they first start. You think I was a master at darts since I was born? Far from it."
She offered him one, but Pythor was reluctant. "C'mon. Look, I'll wager you...if I can't show you how to land one after three tries, then I'll never bother you with this ever again."
Pythor's eye ridges went up. "Will you now?"
Katherine nodded. "I promise."
"...Well, how can I say no to a wager like that?" he chuckled, finally taking the dart.
She smirked, scooting over so Pythor could get closer and get a good view in front of the board.
"All right," she said, starting to explain, "now the objective is more about touch instead of force, okay? Make sure your grip is firm, but not tense. Be solid, but relaxed."
Pythor nodded. "Solid but relaxed...never even believed that was possible."
"Just try." She chuckled.
Pythor sighed, turning back to the dart board. He made sure his grip wasn't so tense before he threw the dart. But his grip proved him a liar, since the dart bounced right off the board from being thrown too hard.
Katherine clicked her tongue, and nodded. "Okay...well, lessen learned. More relaxed." She handed him another dart.
Pythor took it, preparing to throw it again – this time with a more relaxed grip. Katherine saw he was using two fingers.
"Okay, wait. Use more than two." She told him. "More fingers will offer more control, and you have to coordinate them before you throw. Try again."
Pythor did, doing his best to follow the directions. But once again, he threw too hard. The dart bounced right off the board like it was made of rubber.
"You're too tense, man." She said, looking at him. "Ease up."
"It's not easy to be sturdy and relaxed at the same time." He complained, as she handed him another dart.
"Well, yeah, when you're paranoid about control." Katherine pointed out.
Pythor gave her an irritable side-glance. "I'm not paranoid."
"Really? 'Cause it seems like you're trying to knock my dart board off the wall."
Pythor sighed at that, rolling his eyes a little.
Katherine sighed as well, but quietly. She scooted a little closer, looking at him even though he was avoiding her eyes. "Look, relaxing doesn't mean you're giving up control. You can be solid and relaxed and still have control. Ease up a little but don't lighten up on your grip too much, okay?"
Pythor glanced at her, raising a skeptic eye ridge. "...You're going to keep your word if I don't nail this, right?"
"I promised, didn't I?"
He sighed, but he took the dart. Holding it with at least three fingers, Pythor aimed. He relaxed his grip, but also made sure not to relax so much the dart would fall right out of his claws. Then he threw the dart.
It hit the board. Perfectly. The dart didn't hit the center, but it stuck to the board, nevertheless.
Pythor blinked, and Katherine smirked smugly. She leaned back on the couch, nodding proudly.
"See? Just had to ease up on yourself is all."
Pythor glanced between her and the dart board, still a little surprised at himself. He never would have expected that to work... Pythor looked back at Katherine, stopping and noticing her smile. It was friendly, sincere. He swallowed and looked away, clearing his throat.
"Uh, thank you."
"Think nothing of it." She replied. "It'll probably give you something to do instead of sitting around all day, you know."
Pythor nodded at that. "I hope...since that's not entertaining." He nodded at the TV.
"Oh?" said Katherine. "Huh...well, since you're not a couch potato guy, can you read?"
"Of course." Pythor answered.
"All right, then maybe I'll call Nikkei and ask her to grab some books from home." She offered, and then Katherine suddenly remembered: "Oh, by the way, Nikkei's stopping by. I...I kinda feel bad after the whole, uh, thing with the garbage and all that. She's bringing over some movies."
"Oh, sounds...fun." Pythor said, a little sarcastically.
"The time of your life, right?" Katherine chuckled, and then she got up, picking up the darts.
She started tidying the apartment up, and then there came a knock at the door fifteen minutes later. There was Nikkei, with some books and movies.
"Wow," Nikkei chuckled, looking around, "you would never have thought that there was garbage spilled all over the room, Kat."
She smirked. "Let's just say I was filled with determination."
Pythor heard the two girls chat it up from the kitchen as he looked for something to snack on. When he caught the sound of footprints approaching him, he looked up and found Nikkei smiling at him with two books in her hand.
"Here," she said, "for you. Since you're not a TV guy."
Pythor took them, looking at the covers and flipping over to the back to read the plots. They both sounded quite interesting. Hopefully these would help cure his boredom.
Pythor was about to thank her, until there came another knock at the door.
Katherine checked it – and she had to cover her mouth to silence her gasp when she saw who knocked. There, standing with his hands in his pocket, was Beck.
She spun around to Nikkei. "It's Beck again!" She whispered quietly, starting to panic. Katherine quickly went over to Pythor as Nikkei, grabbing them both and pushing them into her walk-in pantry, trying to get them in as fast as possible.
"Hey, what gives, Kat?" Nikkei quietly demanded. "I get why he has to hide, but why me?"
"Because you need to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid while Beck's here!" Katherine hissed quietly, nodding to Pythor, who was pushed at the very back of the pantry. "I'll try and be as quick as I can, but you both stay quiet!"
She shut the door just as Nikkei and Pythor went to complain. The two glanced at each other, unsure how well this plan would work out. Nikkei was a tiny thing – especially compared to the hundreds of pounds that was Pythor's mass. A pantry that was more fit for Katherine and Nikkei's sizes was like shoving him in the slimmest crack between two walls.
There was little to no elbow room for either of them...
Katherine rushed to answer the door not a moment after she moved as fast as lightning to clean up her living room enough to give the illusion that only one person was living in the apartment. She greeted Beck with a nonchalant smile, hiding how breathless she was in a friendly tone.
"Hey, Beck!" she greeted. "What a surprise!"
He smiled back, walking inside. "Hey, Kat. Sorry to drop by unannounced."
"No worries." Katherine shrugged. "I wasn't doing anything. In fact, I was just starting to get bored right before you knocked."
The moment after she said that, she wanted desperately to rephrase it. Wow. Sound casual, Kat. Not sad like-you-have-no-life sad...
But she decided to save the self-barraging at herself for later. Katherine closed the door as she asked:
"So what brings you here, Beck."
He smiled at her as he took his brown jacket off (and Katherine hoped that wasn't a sign that he wanted to stay). "I wanted to come by and ask if you'd be interested in a job opening for a new building being made after the city gets rebuilt?"
Katherine blinked at him, forgetting all about Nikkei and Pythor trapped in the pantry together as she became a little eager. "What would it be?"
"I heard the new owner of a really old store is thinking about changing it into a bar since it has – or, well, had – so much open space. When we get to it, we're going to add more on so it'll be the actual size of a bar. They're asking around for potential bar tenders to keep in mind for the future."
She looked down, leaning her back against the front door as she considered that offer. "Maybe...I don't know if I'd be good at that, though. I mean, grouchy customers are one thing, but drunk ones are a whole other level."
"I know, but I think the sooner you get out of that diner the better. Your boss works you like you're a slave."
Katherine sighed. She couldn't deny that. Thanks to the power outage in some parts of the city, the diner had to close for the time being. This break was a huge relief to Katherine – or would have been had Pythor not dropped in unexpectedly. But even when it was up and running, the money was still tight. And when money got tight, suddenly everyone had to pull overtime in that place. Not just that, but her boss would also get mean.
"When will it open?" she asked Beck, curiously.
"The guys and I are starting on it later this week." Beck answered. He was a construction worker, although he didn't look like one under all his baggy, loose-fitting clothes. He could operate any machinery involved with construction.
He and co-workers were certainly doing overtime with everything that had happened, as well.
"I think in a few months it should open up. But, like I said, you should talk to the owner soon and set up an interview. If your boss is a nice person, you should take it. It'll be good working with someone who doesn't rag on you all the time for once."
"Yeah," Katherine sighed, crossing her arms in thought, "that would be nice."
"And if it pays more, it'll get that Devon guy off your back about your rent." Beck added. "Hell, after a few months you could afford to move and live somewhere better than this dump."
Katherine had chuckle at him. "Man, you're really trying to sell me on this job."
Beck smirked, rubbing the back of his neck with a light bashful flush. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's a good opportunity. I think you'd be an amazing bar tender. You know, since you don't just sit there and let someone treat you like garbage. And..."
While Katherine and Beck talked, Pythor and Nikkei struggled for room inside the pantry. There was light shoving and aggravated whispers between them.
"You are stepping on my tail!"
"Then get your tail out from under me! And move your frickin' arm, dude, your elbow is like an inch from my face!"
"I would if there was any room in this damned tiny space!"
Nikkei felt her leg starting to fall asleep. She tried to move her foot, which resulted in her stepping on Pythor's tail just a little too hard this time. His yip was loud enough to get Beck's attention from the other room, and Nikkei covered his mouth in a heartbeat.
But now Beck was confused, which made Katherine nervous.
"Did you hear that?" he asked, looking back at her.
Katherine played dumb. "Hear what?"
"You didn't just hear that weird noise?"
She shook her head. "It was probably just Minnie. But, uh, what were you saying about the bar? Like what kind of bar tender is the owner looking for?"
Beck was still a little confused, but he eased up as he told her more about the job. After a couple minutes, Beck asked for some water, which Katherine happily got for him. He sat at the table as she filled him a glass.
"Has Devon been leaving alone?" Beck asked, concerned.
That made Katherine sigh. "Well, as much as he leaves the other girls in this complex alone."
"I think you should consider getting a roommate, Kat." Beck suggested, and Katherine almost snorted. Oh, if only she could tell him. He'd be shocked.
"Nah," she said, "I'm not really ready to, uh, share my home with someone just yet. Like, what if they're super selfish? Or obnoxious? Or we have a disagreement one night and they're so childish that they actually throw garbage all around my living room to spur me?"
That last part she said especially loud, so that there would be no way for Pythor to miss it. And he heard it loud and clear. He rolled his eyes with a light growl.
He could hear Nikkei go to say something, but he quickly shut her up. "I don't need your opinion." He hissed sharply yet quietly at her.
Nikkei's mouth shut tight.
"I get that, but at least you'd have someone to back you up when Devon tries harassing you." Beck said, out of concern for her.
"I don't need back up." Katherine gently objected. "I can handle Devon by myself, like I always have."
"But Kat – " Beck went to argue, until he noticed something that had been sticking out just an inch behind her toaster. It was a pill bottle...Pythor's antibiotics.
He curiously grabbed it, and inspected it. Katherine felt a pit open up in her stomach as he read the printing, his face wrinkling in confusion.
"Kat...why do you have these?" he asked, looking up at her.
"O-Oh, those. Uh, Minnie had a pretty nasty cold a couple weeks back. But she's fine now." She lied, trying to assure him.
"...But Alan prescribed these to you." He pointed out. "Last time I checked, he puts Minnie's name on the bottle. Why would your veterinarian give you antibiotics?"
Katherine swallowed. She tried to think of something, but there wasn't a logical excuse she could make up that could explain why a vet had her name on pills meant for animals.
Beck got up, walking around the table towards her. He looked really confused, as well as concerned by her silence. "Hey, Kat. It's all right." He said gently, looking her in the eyes. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
Katherine bit her lip. "Y-You're sure?"
Pythor – who had been listening in on the entire conversation – grew extremely tense at this point. He tried to get a good view of the two outside through the slots of the pantry, practically pushing Nikkei against the wall behind her.
"She wouldn't dare!" he rumbled lowly. "Is that woman out of her mind?"
"Quit pushing!" Nikkei whispered, trying to push him away so she'd have a little room.
But Pythor was so tense that he was like a boulder. Nikkei wasn't nearly strong enough to move him. He was nervous, watching and listening intently while praying Katherine wouldn't give in and tell this man of their situation!
"Of course I'm sure." Beck replied. He took her hand in a gentle grip, looking deeper into her eyes. "You think I'll be mad, or something?" he asked, before giving her a friendly smirk. "You know I could never be mad at you."
Katherine glanced between him and the pantry, highly considering yet doubting at the same time. She had no idea how much she wasn't scaring Pythor with her silence.
He pressed himself more and more against the pantry door, his heart starting to race. He had no idea Nikkei was doing everything in her power to get him away from the door. He couldn't feel her hands trying to pry him back, but he was as solid and unmovable as a brick wall.
"Beck, uh...I, um..." Katherine had no idea how to tell Beck.
But he was patient with her, nevertheless. He simply waited.
Pythor placed his tense arm on the door when he felt his tail begin to fall asleep. Unknowingly, he put all his wait against the door – it couldn't hold him. The wood suddenly snapped, breaking open, and out the Anacondrai tumbled with a surprised and startled yelp to the floor.
Beck and Katherine turned to him with total shock in their wide eyes. The silence that hung in the air seemed to last for decades as Beck stared down at Pythor, who was cringing from his side-wound. He sat up as much as he could, unaware he was being stared at.
Katherine, worried and ready to explain, went to help him, but Beck suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Get behind me, Kat!"
Pythor looked up right when Beck pulled her behind him, but there was something about the way he had grabbed her arm that he didn't like. It was too forceful, and he moved her back like she was a rag doll. Pythor got up, feeling strangely defensive on this woman's behalf and moved a hand towards them.
"Hey -"
In the same heartbeat, Beck grabbed the closest thing beside him – a chair, which he was strong enough to grab and hold up.
Beck lunged at him. Pythor moved fast, backing against a wall behind him, followed by letting out a very threatening hiss at Beck.
"Beck!" Katherine exclaimed, trying to get his attention. "Beck, wait – "
"Don't worry." He told her, pointing the legs of the chair at Pythor in a defensive stance. "I-I think I got it scared."
Pythor hissed again, moving into a defensive stance as well. "I would put that chair down, little man, before someone gets hur – "
Beck went right for his face with one of the legs, knocking him in his snout. Pythor reeled his head back, covering his now bleeding nose. But he took the chance to grab the chair and pushing it out of Beck's hands. Then, moving with the speed a snake possessed, Pythor knocked the end of the chair that faced Beck straight against his chest.
Losing his wind and footing, Beck fell over, clutching his chest and coughing.
Pythor wiped the blood from his nose, smirking. "Still feeling bold, little man?"
That was when Beck pulled out a shift-blade from his pocket. He got right back up and charged at Pythor, who grabbed his arm and tried to fight him off. He struggled to get the knife out of his hand while Beck was more than ready to fight him off.
"Kat, Nikkei!" he exclaimed. "You two run and get help while I fight it off! Hurry!"
In the same second, Pythor's glare drifted off him and to Katherine, who was staring wide eyed at the scene.
"Aren't you going to help me?!" he growled at her, before turning and pinning Beck to the wall and hissing right in his face.
Katherine finally found the courage to move, running over and trying to force herself between them. "Will you both stop it?!" she shouted.
They both turned to her. At the same time they said: "He's trying to hurt you!" then – hearing what the other said – they glared right back at each other and shouted: "I am not! You are!"
"Nobody's trying to hurt anybody!" Katherine said, and then she looked up at Pythor. "Put him down, Pythor!"
Beck blinked at that, looking at Katherine with more confusion than he ever had before. "What?" but she and Pythor both ignored his question.
"I'll put him down when he drops the knife!" he hissed, glaring violet daggers at Beck.
Katherine turned to Beck. "You heard him, Beck. Put down the knife."
"Why the hell should I?" he demanded at her. "He's trying to kill me! And why the hell are you telling me to even put it down?!"
"I'll explain – but first put down the knife."
Beck glanced at Katherine for a moment, sometimes glancing at Pythor for a heartbeat. After almost a minute, he dropped the knife. And just like that, Pythor let him go.
Katherine got between them, pressing herself against Pythor and pushing him gently back a few more inches so Beck could breathe. Then Nikkei, seeing that things were more calm now, finally moved from her hiding place in the pantry and went to Beck, keeping herself in front of him in case he wanted to act like a hero again.
Beck rubbed his now sore arm, panting and looking right up at Katherine. "You've got five minutes to explain."
Katherine, feeling her heart pounding, took in a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Beck," she began, "this is Pythor. I...I found him a little while ago after the giant snake attacked the city. He was hurt so I brought him here. With Nikkei's help, she brought Alan over to treat his injuries. That's...that's where the antibiotics came from. They're for Pythor so his wounds don't get infected."
"If that was a while ago, why is he still here, Kat?" he demanded.
"Because he has nowhere to go right now, Beck. Not with everyone hunting Serpentine down."
"He shouldn't be here in the first place!" Beck shouted at her. "Do you have any idea how serious this is, Kat?! What'll you do if the authorities find out?!"
"There needs to be a witness for that to happen..." Pythor growled, intentionally making Beck uncomfortable.
Katherine slapped Pythor's chest with the back of her hand to stop him.
"That's not helping!"
Pythor rolled his eyes at her. "You're the one who was going to tell him."
"Yeah, calmly! Unlike you who broke the door and started hissing at people!"
"I hissed out of self-defense!" he rumbled, and then he pointed to his injured nose. "Do you see this? Why are you treating me like I'm in the wrong when I was the one attacked?!"
"Because you're being an ass and threatening him! That's not making you look good!"
The two argued more, almost forgetting about the situation at hand. Beck was stumped, completely dumbfounded and beside himself in shock. He couldn't believe he was watching Katherine defend and now argue with a Serpentine in her own home.
He looked at Nikkei. "You knew about this, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Right after Kat found him, she told me."
"And you're okay with it?"
"Well...yes and no." Nikkei answered. "I mean, I thought Kat was crazy, too. Believe me. And I'm worried that she'll get caught...but I can tell he's not gonna hurt her." She told him earnestly. "If he wanted to, he would have done it by now. And, honestly, Beck, I...I trust in Kat's decision to keep him here."
Beck blinked. "Why? He's a SERPENTINE, Nikkei."
"I know, I know. But...she trusts him and so do I."
Beck sighed, wanting to rip his hair out. He couldn't believe his two best friends had lost their minds. He looked back at Katherine and called her, getting her attention from arguing with Pythor.
He nodded outside, wanting to talk to her privately.
She followed him, closing the door behind her and looking at Beck, who was rubbing his hand through his hair.
"Okay..." he said, and then looked at her, "give me one good reason why I shouldn't go down to the police station right now and turn him in."
Katherine swallowed. "Because, Beck...because who knows what the cops will do to him. You know how everyone feels about Serpentine right now."
"And rightly so!" he reminded her, "Have you forgotten they unleashed that giant thing – "
"The Devourer." She corrected, without meaning to.
"Whatever it was – they are the ones responsible for all this. Why do you care so much, anyway? You hate Serpentine."
"I-I know, I know. And I know what I did makes little to no sense, but...I-I felt terrible for what I almost did."
Beck raised a questioning brow. Katherine sighed, rubbing her low pounding forehead.
"I...I almost beat Pythor to death when I found him. And-And he didn't even try to hurt me, I was scared and angry and feeling all these terrible things when he's laying there – half-dead and bleeding – and I'm ready to knock his head in."
Katherine frowned, rubbing her neck. "I felt terrible when I realized how I was acting. Before I realized what was going to happen, I wanted to help him so that maybe the terrible things I was feeling would go away. I know I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I can't take it back now... And since I'm being honest, Beck, Pythor's not...he's not a bad guy. I mean, he's as temperamental as a spoiled kid and thinks the whole world is against him, but underneath all that I think he's just lonely. And...I sympathize with that. 'Cause I know how that feels..."
Beck paused at that, taking it all in before he sighed. "He...He hasn't tried to hurt you, right? Not at all?"
Katherine shook her head. "We argue, but that's the full extent of it."
His hands went to his pockets, already feeling tired. "...I'm going to stop by more often. Just to form my own opinion of him, okay?"
Katherine blinked at Beck, but she nodded.
"And if I feel that he's a threat to you, I will head right down to the station and turn him in. All right?"
Katherine smiled and nodded again. "Thank you, Beck."
"Yeah, well, not like I can argue with you when you set your stubborn mind to something." He shrugged, giving a light smile.
Just like Nikkei, he had to trust in Katherine's judgment, too. As long as she didn't feel her life was at risk, he would support her.
They went back inside. Nikkei was cleaning up the broken parts of the pantry door from her kitchen floor. Pythor had a rag to his nose to get the bleeding to stop. They both turned when the two walked in, but a nod and a smile from Katherine assured them that everything was all right.
"Well, I've had enough excitement for one night." Beck said, picking his shift-blade from the table and putting it back in his pocket. He gave Katherine and Nikkei a smile. "I'll see you two later."
The three said goodbye to each other. As Beck walked to the door, he glanced at Pythor with a cold look. Pythor shot it right back, giving a quiet growl in the process.
Beck opened the door, and then suddenly he pointed between Pythor and his eyes with two fingers. He gave a stern and distrusting face.
Pythor blinked...but he didn't think twice about mimicking it right back at the male human, making a very stern and very distrusting face to prove he could do it better.
After an eye roll, Beck finally left. Nikkei left shortly after him, since she had enough excitement for one night, too. Katherine understood and bid her a kind farewell.
It was just her and Pythor again. They sat on the couch tiredly, sighing heavily from the long night.
"...You think we can trust him?" Pythor asked her, his nose no longer bleeding.
Katherine nodded. "Yeah. I think we can." Then she gave him a quiet smirk. "Gotta think positive in our situation, right? Otherwise we have nothing...right?"
Pythor paused at that, glancing at the woman. Nevertheless, he nodded in agreement.
"How's your nose?" she asked him, changing the subject.
"It's sore, but at least it's not bleeding anymore." He answered. "He surprised me with that chair. I didn't think he would actually use it."
"Yeah," Katherine chuckled lightly. "That's Beck for you."
"I assume he's not fond of my kind?"
She shook her head. "Not the least bit. But I promise he's not a bad guy."
"...And he'll be coming around more often?"
Katherine nodded, which made Pythor sigh heavily.
"Don't worry." She assured. "I'll make sure to keep the chairs out of his reach."
Here's chapter ten ^^ enjoy. Also, big thank you to rainbowdragon01 for helping me out with a scene I was having trouble with.