Apetrully looked up at them.
Annabelle was peacefully asleep. One side of her headphones was broken and dangled, no matter how much she tried to fix it, but he could still hear the music coming from that side. It was low to him, but it was nice. He didn't know how any of it truly worked, but it was interesting. In fact, Apetrully thought she was interesting. They were so different from everything he'd ever known. It felt like the two were from different worlds, even if he knew they weren't.
Her taste in music, the knowledge she possessed which he was certain she still had more she didn't speak of, how she acted in comparison to the others, everything about her was quite unique. He loved that about them. Never had he thought someone like them would be as interested in him like she was to him. Apetrully didn't think he was anything too special, he was just doing what he thought was right and did what he could to bring peace back between humans and animals, yet he was special to her.
When they found out he was a monkey rather than a human, instead of hating him for his deceit, she was understanding and she didn't care. Annabelle simply told him that she cared about him because of who he was, what he believed in, not about what he was.
Apetrully held onto her tighter. They offered to stay with him for the night, regardless of whose room the two stayed in. She didn't have to keep him company, but she did. She even tried to make sure they didn't move a lot because of having Apetrully next to them. He was worried at first, worried about someone coming in and seeing him without his disguise, but they reassured him that he could hide under the blanket and get his disguise on while they handled it.
All he had to do was wake her up.
He buried his face into her side with a smile. She still felt soft to touch, and warm as well. She made him feel safe, like he could truly be himself. He closed his eyes and listened to the music that played.
Apetrully eventually fell asleep.