Don't expect frequent updates, these are written when I get to them.

With little else to do, Marianne simply waited with its head lowered and its hands clasped together in front of her chest. It assumes this pose quite often, yet didn't know why. It felt like there was some significance to it and sometimes, it saw its soon-to-be victims do the same though they often mumbled something. The beast didn't pay enough attention to them or see it happen often enough to say anything for sure.

There were many things about its appearance or behavior that it couldn't explain, mostly related to its human body, but it simply accepted everything as it was. All it needed to know was its role in the world. There was nobody to teach it more and it didn't need to learn more.

Until this day, it hasn't thought much about anything, but now there was Hilda. Marianne wanted to know who she was beyond simply being a lazy human with a name and seemingly no sense of self-preservation. They spent less than an hour together and she already stirred new and unknown feelings in the beast. It wanted to know, but it couldn't ask questions. She had already given it too much. A beast shouldn't be given anything but words filled with hatred and deep wounds on its hide. It did nothing to deserve anything good in the first place. On the contrary, it betrayed its own nature. It should have eaten the girl the moment it spotted her, taken another life without a second thought as it always did.

For the first time in its life, it felt restless as it was clearly waiting for the human to return. It didn't like that feeling, but it didn't know how to get rid of it. It simply noticed how often it wondered whether Hilda would return and when, with that feeling growing worse the more time passed. When it grew tired of doing nothing, it started pacing around the clearing, trying to empty its mind.

The moment she came back, another unknown feeling washed over Marianne, replacing that restlessness. It prefered this new one even if it didn't last for long.

This time, Hilda was carrying a bag with her. It was quite large, but she had no problems carrying it around in one hand while the other was busy holding whatever she was eating. Perhaps she was a warrior herself, like a large number of the beast's victims were. It didn't truly matter whether they could fight back or not, both were crushed beneath its feet or between its jaws all the same, it was simply another detail to note.

"Missed me?"

It sat down and observed the human. She still wasn't armed and there was no one else around. There was still no hint of fear in her features, she remained relaxed. Why did she come back? She successfully distracted the beast and avoided certain death and yet chose to come back when allowed to escape. Her actions could no longer be explained by craftiness or delirium.

"Why are you here?" Marianne asked when the human walked up to it.

"I've already told you, I was hungry and you looked like you could use a snack too. Here, have some," Hilda replied, pulling out an item similar to whatever she ate on her way there.

It was a small orb around the size of Hilda's hand with white powder covering it. Marianne vaguely recognized it, but didn't know where it had seen these before. With humans being the only food it had ever consumed, it wasn't sure what to think of it. It had to be edible if the girl ate one, but it was so small even in comparison to her. How many did they need to eat to sate themselves?

Well, it didn't hurt to try. The beast lowered itself and opened its massive jaws.

"Wait, that's not- Can you eat it another way?" Hilda asked, pulling the orb back a little. The beast momentarily froze in response, then closed its mouth.

"W-What do you mean?"

"You can't just swallow these whole. They're meant to be enjoyed. How about this?"

When the girl started climbing up it reptilian head, it felt uneasy and squirmed a little under her touch, but didn't move otherwise. At least she was careful not to step on any of its eyes. That feeling grew worse as she got closer to its human body. With how it was attached to the rest of the body, it couldn't move much. It could only look away and once Hilda was close enough, it raised its arms to cover its chest and there was an unpleasant feeling in it face. It didn't understand why it did it.

"Uh, sorry about that. I won't look," she said, averting her gaze while offering her the orb again. This made it feel a bit better, but that feeling didn't go away completely.

It still wasn't quite sure about the whole thing, but it took the offered item with both hands and inspected it again. It had a smell Marianne remembered from some of the villages it attacked. That's all it really knew. As it had never used its human body to eat and its other mouth swallowed everything whole, it didn't know what to do with this orb. It was too big to fit inside its human mouth and that one couldn't open anywhere near as wide as its massive jaws.

When it looked at Hilda for guidance, it saw her eat another one, still looking elsewhere. The beast tried to replicate her motions though it took it much longer. When its elongated fangs pierced the orb, it offered far less resistance than expected, even less when it tore off a piece. What surprised Marianne more was the taste. With its reptilian head being incapable of feeling any, the only taste it had ever known before was that of blood in its human mouth in the rare instances it was hurt enough to experience it. This one was nothing alike, it felt...pleasant and it wanted more.

"I knew you'd like it! There's plenty more where that came from."

While Marianne ended up eating more out of the two, there were still plenty left by the time they were done. The human body wasn't separate from the rest of the beast, but it apparently couldn't eat much. Still, this was a far more pleasant meal than any of the humans it consumed.

...This wasn't right. A beast couldn't feel good. It deserved only suffering for the sins it committed and sins were all it could commit. And to share a meal with a human it was meant to hunt? What was it doing? What was it thinking, going against its very nature? It didn't have a choice, it couldn't have a choice, this was wrong.

But...No, this didn't matter. It knew that it would take her life sooner or later. That was the only possible outcome. Even if the two were to become friends, Marianne would kill her. That's all a beast was capable of. It was only a matter of time before her mangled corpse would stain its body with warm blood and fill its stomach like many others.

"...thank you...you didn't have to...shouldn't have..." Marianne muttered. Even when Hilda was only a few feet away from her, it was still very quiet.

"You're gloomy again. Where did that smile go? You look so much better when you're smiling, you know?" Hilda said, resting her free hand on her hips. She had the same expression she had when she complained about work. Did it really smile? It certainly wasn't smiling at that moment.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, it's okay. If I can make you smile at all, that's good enough for me."

"Why...Why are you doing this? You shouldn't talk to a beast, you shouldn't be here. Leave me alone, you shouldn't be with me...Nobody should..."

Now Hilda's expression was the same as when she learned the beast had no name. It stayed there for longer this time.

"You seemed so lonely and miserable, I couldn't just ignore it and go about my day knowing that."

"We don't even know each other...Your efforts are wasted on a worthless beast like me..."

"You're right, we don't...So how about we change that and get to know each other better? You already know my name and I know yours and we've already shared a meal. I'd say that's a good start!"

Was there really no way to deter her? Nothing Marianne tried so far bore fruit. Maybe it didn't try hard enough.

"...For someone who claims to be lazy, you're persistent."

"What? No, this isn't much work for me. It's not like I don't want to do anything and hey, I got to see a nice smile with so little effort!"

Maybe this was fine. Marianne would simply wait and let the girl do as she pleases. In the end, it would betray her anyway. That's all a beast could do, it couldn't and didn' deserve to have companions to ease its own suffering. Of course, it was more likely that Hilda would abandon it first and never come back. A beast had nothing good to offer and this one couldn't even keep up a conversation if it tried. It must have been a chore to put up with it.

Or maybe Hilda would slay the beast instead. Many tried and she was entirely alone so far, but at the same time, she was the only one who had come this close to it. Perhaps that was the best outcome. Marianne wouldn't mind if Hilda was the one to pass judgement on this hideous monster and make it pay for all the lives it took.

Only time would tell.