Work Text:
You were sleeping as well as you could during another night in Hell when you could hear clamber in the room next to you. It wasn't uncommon for you to hear commotion from your neighbor, and you tried to ignore it at first by burying your face in your pillow until you heard a slam and a frustrated yell. You sighed heavily.
You were trying to get your sorry ass redeemed, telling your neighbor to shut the fuck up probably wouldn't help. You drag yourself out of bed and out of your room and go to the door on the left. You raise your fist to knock and hear another slam, making you wince.
You knock gently, not wanting to startle your slithery acquaintance. The noise quiets for a moment before he shouts from behind the door.
"Who is it?!"
"Your neighbor." You answer and it goes quiet again.
You hear him slither closer and several locks being undone before the door opens. He's wearing a robe that hung loosely on his shoulders, and your eyes wander down his body for just a moment before returning to his face. Goggles sat on his head, and his scales were glistening with oil.
"My eyes are up here." He scowls at you, clearly unamused with your traveling eyes.
You glance away, turning your head down. "No, they're all over you."
"Touché." He crosses his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"
"You don't need to be a bitch about it." You glare up at him again. "What's with all the noise at 2 am?? I'm trying to sleep."
His nose scrunches up. "That'sss none of your concern."
"It is when it interrupts my sleep." You take a breath to calm yourself. "Just, what's up? Can't you keep it down?"
Sir Pentious's eye twitches, and he turns up his nose. "Well if you mussst know, I'm in the middle of building something. I'll keep it down."
"That didn't sound like building." You try to get a peek into his room, but he leans down and flares out his hood, frowning at you and blocking your view. You lean back, scowling.
"What do you know?" His eyes narrow at you.
You clench your fists before really taking a look at him. There were bags under his eyes, and his clothes were unkempt, which was unusual for Sir Pentious who always made sure he looked presentable. You look over him again and relax your fists. "Are you okay?"
His scowl falters, and his eyes widen. He grits his teeth before the face returns. "Why would you care? None of you like me anyway."
You let out an exasperated sigh. "No one said that. Listen, let's just. Not fight, I'm too tired for this. Are you stressed over extermination?"
His hood folds back down, and his guard faltered once more. Bingo. "Not at all. I can prepare for it in sssix months." His voice shook slightly, betraying his real feelings.
He didn't deserve your empathy, not when he's being a bitch like this. But Charlie would be disappointed if you were to deny him some basic kindness. "I get it. I'm scared too. What are you building in there?"
His eyes narrowed as he looked over you, as if trying to figure out what your intentions were. He fixed his robe, pulling the falling sleeve over his shoulder. "A clock."
You blink. "Just a clock? Not a... Super powerful ray to kill angels with?"
"Of course not. Charlie's little girlfriend banned me from making weapons." He pouted, crossing his arms again and looking away with an almost somber look in his eye. "Even if I were allowed, I would not be making such a thing at a time like thisss."
"What's wrong with now?"
He shook his head, quickly erecting his walls again. "Nothing. Forget thisss conversation."
"No, I wanna see it."
He blinked at you, and his pupils blew wide. "You... You do?"
Really you wanted to see what he was so frustrated over; you can't imagine he'd be throwing a fit over a clock. "Yeah, sure."
He hesitates before backing away from the door to let you in. He starts to gather up his mess that's scattered about the room as you enter. "Sssorry about the messss, I don't usually get visitorsss."
You look around his room. You were surprised at how quickly he had gotten everything rearranged to his liking. He really leaned into the whole steampunk snake thing, huh? You respected the dedication.
Egg Bois were scattered about the place, messing with equipment that Sir Pentious very quickly shooed them away from, and then your eyes land on his workbench. There sat a half finished clock, springs and gears surrounding it like lost soldiers on a battlefield. Sir Pentious warily comes up behind you, his eyebrows furrowing as he looks upon his work.
"Usually building clocks calms me down, but I just... Can't get this one to look how I want it to." Sir Pentious moves a few tools from some hastily put together blueprints.
"You build clocks to destress?" You glance up at him as he moves his hand, and then you look back down at the blueprints. "Does it come that easy to you?"
"Of courssse it does." He traces the lines on the blueprints with his thumb. "Music boxes too."
You hum in response, sitting down in the chair and carefully picking up the clock. You turn it in your hands, wanting to see every detail. It looked to be a small mantle clock, intricate details etched into the metal. "You know, I really like clocks like this."
He watches you intently as you handle his creation. "You do?"
"Yeah. My dad ran an antique store. Got all sorts of trinkets. He fueled my love for all things vintage, though clocks always stood out to me." You see what he was talking about. The clock face was cracked, assumedly from his attempts to decorate it going awry. You glance between it and the blueprints. "There's something really special about handmade mechanisms. I would get sad whenever someone bought one of them from his store."
Sir Pentious's shoulders relax, and he comes up beside you, leaning down to be at your level. He was staring at you with bright eyes, interested in your story. "That'sss... Really beautiful." He looked away, fidgeting with his fingers. "Would you... Like to learn how to make them? I could use an apprentice that doesn't have yolk for brainsss."
You smile. "Yeah, sure." You set the clock down. "I'd love to, actually. In the morning, of course."
"Right, right!" He stood up straight and leaned on the workbench, and you turn to face him. "Sssorry, f-for waking you. I'm... I'm okay, now."
"It's cool." You shrug and put out your hand. "I'll get back to my room now. I'm exhausted."
He takes your hand, which was much smaller in his, and helps you to stand. He didn't look at you with that usual suspicious glint in his eyes anymore. They were bright and excited, almost relieved.
He sees you out, and you return to your room, collapsing on your bed. No noise comes from his room, and you close your eyes gratefully.
How funny. The ticking of a clock that was once so charming now signaling how much time you all have left.
When you wake up the next morning, you find the finished clock outside your door.