Shoo Snake Don't Bother Me

Thunk, thunk, thunk, swiiiiisssh.

Aiden let out a heaving sigh, is it a reptile of a fricken puppy? He thinks Who knows?

Aiden looks up from his dish washing and sure enough, just beyond the now saliva drenched kitchen window is the big scaly face of Bites.

Aiden had tried, he swears on his future grave, he tried, tried really hard to get rid of that snake.

Aiden had rescued Bites back in the jungle a few months back. Long story short, Bites was originally a man eating pet of an angry jungle tribe. Aiden and Petra had escaped getting eaten but Bites had gotten loose in the process. They had discovered Bites now much later after that tangled in a large tree and against Aiden's better judgment, he cut the viper loose out of guilt. In return Bites had not eaten the pair and gave them a lift out of the jungle.

Aiden continued on with his life and had a clean conscious that he had not been the death cause of a large magnificent animal

End of story.

At least until about a month ago...

"Why is there a giant snake outside your window?" Lukas had asked.

This was literally after Aiden had just finished telling Lukas that nothing interesting had happened on his jungle quest.

Bites had followed Aiden, on a two day journey over three different biomes, all the way back to his house.

And that's where he stayed.

Aiden tried everything. Luring him away with food, showing him the jungle across the river would be a better home. Even leaving for a week, hoping the snake would follow. But he didn't and Aiden was greeted with the fifty plus foot viper waiting for him on his back porch.

It was almost like a puppy, a giant, dangerous, -recently discovered to be venomous - puppy.

Isa had nearly suffered a heart attack at the arrival of Bites, and the town pretty much spent a week lock up in their homes out of sheer terror.

It took Aiden awhile, but he managed to convince Isa, Milo, and Reginald, that Bites was nice when he wanted to be. It took Aiden less time to convince Bites that the locals were friends than it did to convince the locals Bites was friendly.

It turned out okay though. Aiden would walk around the cities outer wall during construction, and the people of Ground Town soon discovered that his new 'pet' was a very effective spawn repellent.

Aiden was still the caretaker though and that irritated him greatly.

Aiden hopped of his porch, "Dammit Bites, stop licking the window!"

Bites didn't actually lick; he just likes to smell Aiden with his tongue. The snake hadn't quite figured out the concept of glass yet, so whenever Aiden was near any window in his house - today was by the sink doing dishes as stated earlier - Bites tried to smell him.

Result: slimy window.

Further result : Well... Mad Aiden.

Aiden angrily slapped a wet cloth against the window, cringing at the disgusting texture. "You know that doesn't come off! Well, it comes off but it's a pain in my ass and- Dammit Bites!" he felt the wet forked tongue against the back of his neck. "Augh!" he slapped the snakes nose, furious. He was not in the mood for this today. "Stop it!"

Under usual snake circumstances, the tongue wouldn't bother Aiden. One of his school mates back home had a pet corn snake back home. Tiny little thing, but cute, and the tongue hardly dampened the skin much less left a trail. Bites tongue was a half a foot thick and the thinnest point - the forked bits - and was a foot wide at the main part. The sheer bulk of it alone was enough to dampen or even turn something sopping wet.

Bites watched curious by the teen's reaction. His tongue flicked out again. This time it caught Aiden in the chest, effectively drenching his shirt. Furious Aiden actually managed to hit the viper's tongue, "Go away! Shoo snake! Don't bother me!"

The snake backed up.

Aiden was too infuriated to care, "Go spit venom at a creeper or something!" he yelled. Bites slithered back a bit, "Yeah! Get lost! Go eat a cow! Aren't you hungry?! Go!"

The snake turned and slithered away.

Aiden returned to his window, still steaming.

The guilt didn't set in till hours later. It was late afternoon now. Aiden's shirt was wert still, now with sweat and stuck to his skin in some places. The window was clean and Bites hadn't returned yet. Aiden stared at the clean glass and sighed.

Great.

The snake was always expressionless. He couldn't blink; he couldn't contort his mouth into a smile. But his motions spoke volumes, and Aiden knew, knew the moment he hit him, that Bites was hurt. He sat down against the oak tree in his backyard, the shade providing a little break from the hot sun and allowing him to drown in regret. Sighing Aiden closed his eyes and listened to the wind, hoping to hear a snake soon.

"Bawk!"

Aiden looked sharply up, eyes shooting open. A chicken rounded the corner of his house, Bites hot on its tail, the viper snapping on either side of the chicken but never directly eating the poultry.

Aiden hoped it wasn't one of the farmers' chickens...

Bites snapped again, sending the chicken in a flying flurry into Aiden's lap. The teen yelped in surprise, and swatted away the plume of feathers. The chicken once again went to run, off to the side, but Bites snapped it back into Aiden's reach.

Like he was steering...

Aiden caught the chicken, and looked cautiously at Bites. The reptile, content that Aiden now had the bird secured, had curled up into a large scaly mound. His unblinking eyes stared without moving, and Aiden couldn't help but feel the snake was waiting for something.

Aiden looked at the chicken, "Is this a gift or something?"

A single forked tongue flicked out.

"Bites? Did you bring me this?" Aiden's eyes widen slightly, "Is this an apology?"

Another flick.

Aiden sighed, "You don't have to be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry. It's not your fault your fifty feet long." he was talking to a snake, but Aiden tried not to think to hard on that, "I'm sorry Bites."

Bites flicked his tongue almost happily, and looked at the chicken, waiting.

Aiden shifted, "I can't eat this raw, you know that right?"

The viper tilted his head.

The youth released the chicken, "But I really appreciate what you did. I know this hasn't been easy for either of us. But we'll make it work, I promise. So why don't you have-"

Bites ate the chicken in a single snap and poof of feathers. Accepting Aiden's proposal.

Aiden stared.

A tongue flicked out.

Aiden laughed, and leaned back against the tree, "You're not so bad Bites, you know that?"

The snake slithered forward, giant head coming to rest on Aiden's lap, while the rest of the body loosely circled around them. He was warm, his scales having absorbed the late afternoon heat. Aiden yawned, rubbing the soft nose. "I can't complain really, who else can claim to have as cool a pet?"

Bites tongue slinked out, just the tip, one of the forks barely brushed Aiden's wrist. Not enough to dampen, just a tinkle, to make his presence known. Aiden figured it was Bites showing his affection, the only way he knew how. He returned the gesture, scratching idly under the chin, "I like you too Bites."

The under the fading afternoon, Aiden and Bites fell into a content sleep.

BubbleTrouble12 requested:

Can I request something with Aiden and a little Bites cameo? Cause I just popped over here from IC and I'm still laughing over the Bites reference haha

Authors Section:

I have absolutely no issue doing one-shots off of something I've written. haha.