I'm not sure how many chapters will be from Marianne's perspective. Maybe most of the story.

It's been about an hour since Hilda declared her intention to acquaint with Marianne. Fortunately, she decided to get back on the ground and give it some space, which was appreciated. She left the bag next to her human body too though it didn't know what it would do if it chose to move the rest of its colossal body. It would surely fall off and it doubted it had sufficient dexterity to retrieve it afterwards.

Still, she had yet to leave. The girl only went back to the same resting place and remained silent for a while. The sight of a human being so relaxed in its presence was still bizarre, but not unpleasant. It briefly wondered if there were more like her, but that was very unlikely and it was unreasonable of the beast to think that anyone else would bother.

"Soooooo...Do you have any hobbies?"

"Hobbies?" Marianne repeated, tilting its human head a little.

"You know, stuff you do when you've got time to spare and you're bored out of your mind, but don't quite feel like approaching other people to chat with them away for hours?" Hilda said, waving one of her arms around while the other rested under her head.

It never really thought about it, but it didn't do much in general. In its waking hours, it either remained still or spilled blood. Sometimes, it had to move elsewhere to get more rest and clear out the area to accommodate its gargantuan body, but that was out of necessity.

"No, I don't."

"Figured as much. We should find you one! Anything you're interested in?"

That was another thing it didn't think about. Other than momentary curiosity, Marianne held no interest in anything. Even its sole form of activity didn't actually interest it, it was simply obligated to kill. Nothing really came to mind.

"I...don't know."

"Hmmm...Say, what do you think of...animals?"

Now that she mentioned it, they did interest the monster for some reasons. It had rarely seen any throughout its life, but the few it did see caught its eye. Birds flying above her, various forest animals running away when they saw it, but the ones it saw the most were horses. Many humans that tried to repel the beast rode them. It often had to hurt them to kill the riders, but it let them get away when it could and it completely avoided eating them. The beast was meant to kill humans, it felt no need to spill the blood of animals.

"I guess...But they're afraid of me. They will never approach a beast like me," Marianne replied, rubbing its shoulder and looking away.

It really wanted to know more about them, to get close and touch them, but there was little that could be done. It was only natural. A beast would always be alone, feared by all, hated by all.

"Will you cheer up a little if I prove you wrong? I'm sure it will all work out if you try! I used to have trouble with them too, but then...someone...They helped me get the hang of it!" Hilda said, her smile briefly faltering for some reason.

"But-"

"Don't blame yourself for scaring them off. They're always so skittish at first, that's just how they are. Once you convince them that they have nothing to worry about, they open up pretty easily! Trust me, if someone like me could do it, then anyone can. I think I'll even help you with it. If you get yourself a few animal friends, I won't feel bad about leaving you all to yourself. Just don't expect a hands-on approach, I prefer to cheer on from the sidelines."

It was an appealing offer, but it still had doubts. The animal would have to be dragged to her by force and that thought didn't sit well with Marianne. Besides, it was probably too big anyway. Its feet alone were bigger than any animal it had ever seen. It would have to be very careful not to hurt them and that was simply impossible.

Then again, it didn't hurt to try. If it doesn't work out, whatever animal Hilda brings would just run away, nobody would get hurt. It was unlikely to get far into the process either though it had plenty of time to spare, so, wasting it wasn't a concern. It's not like it could convince the human not to drag it into this mess. And if it worked...It wasn't sure what would happen then, it just couldn't imagine it.

"If you wish to help, I cannot stop you," Marianne said, curling its incredibly long tail around its legs.

"Hey, you make it sound bad!...Well, maybe I am coming on a bit too strong, but you're so passive that I have to compensate. If I don't, you'll probably keep sulking here," Hilda said with a sigh. The beast didn't...disagree, but she doubted the girl could change anything. "But if you really don't want it, I can think of something else."

"N-No, it's alright, I don't really mind it!" the monster frantically tried to assure her, almost letting the bag roll off its body in the process.

"Then we'll try it tomorrow. Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll bring you a few books. Not sure what you're into, so, I'll bring a bunch of different ones...Wait, can you read?" Hilda asked.

"I...I think I can, but...I've never read anything," the beast replied. It didn't know how, but it knew what reading was and it was very confident in its ability to do it. Maybe it was related to its ability to understand and use human language in spite of never actually talking to them.

"You'll probably like it. It's a great way to pass the time with minimal effort. You can spend a whole day on the same book and you'll still want to keep going. Oh, but that's only half the fun! If you can find someone else who read the same book, you can talk to them about it! Y'know, what they think of this and that, recommend other books, there's a whole bunch of stuff to discuss. Maybe we could do the same? I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of them!" the girl said, getting pretty excited about the idea.

Marianne didn't miss her complete lack of surprise at its ability to read. Now that it thought about it, she didn't question its ability to speak either. There were many questions to ask in that regard and yet it chose to remain silent. It didn't know why, the girl was rather suspicious even if she were unlikely to be able to hurt something like it. If she were trying to deceive it, then she must have been very good at that. When it tried to think of how any of this would benefit her, nothing really came to its mind.

"I'd probably bore you...I'm...I'm not good at talking to others. You're the first person I've ever spoken to. Besides, a beast's opinion isn't worth anything. You should find someone else for this."

"You have a very low opinion of yourself...Well, you can just read on your own, nothing wrong with that. Maybe you'll find something to talk about once you do...I think I should get going. Everyone will get worried and think I've gone missing if I don't. You'll be here tomorrow, right?" Hilda asked, standing up and stretching her limbs out.

"I suppose I will. W-Will you come back tomorrow?" Marianne asked, realizing it only a few seconds afterwards.

"Huh? Of course I will, don't worry, I promise!" she replied, giving the beast a smile and somehow making it feel more confident in her words.

Marianne still wasn't sure why she wanted the human to come back. As hard as she tried to figure it out when she left, nothing came up. It simply didn't make any sense.