Chapter Text
Sir Pentious POV
Sir Pentious laid stiffly in the sheets of his bed, devoid of any eggs that would usually surround him during his slumber. The familiarity of the current room he slept in was far too much of a copy as the one in the Hotel, it angered Pentious in a way. He felt unsafe, just as he had many months ago during his first week staying at the Hazbin Hotel. Because, why, it’s Hell of course! But this was different.
This wasn’t Hell. This could be anywhere in the world, hell, it could even be Heaven! Sir Pentious felt so much unease when he didn’t understand something, it made him feel weak. And by Lucifer was he feeling fragile and weak right now. He longed for the comfort of his own hotel room, the small feelings of his eggs that would huddle beside him, and most of all he missed his friends. It still felt weird calling the other hotel inhabitants his ‘friends’, after all, it was never outright confirmed and Pentious never wanted to jump to conclusions.
However, that is besides the point. Pentious was feeling a sense of uncertainty during his short stay here, it was just like how he felt all those months ago. Yes, he had a wonderful time these past few nights, finally allowing himself to ramble for minutes about his inventions to another guest, Donatello. Yet, he had to keep himself steady, paranoid that one of these days, any second, one of his fellow roommates could turn against him and stab him in the back. After all, Pentious wasn’t very sure he’d respawn back in Hell again.
So Pentious kept himself secluded, isolated in the safety of his bedroom. Though, he knew that wouldn’t keep him protected for long. Sir Pentious made sure to take small notes of every other inhabitant, every power and every advantage they may have over the snake sinner. Some had lazers and guns, others had handheld weapons that were almost on par with the Exterminator’s own swords, and even powers of their own.
He kept it all tucked in the back of his mind, for future reference if he ever needed to invent something to keep himself safe…
But who was he kidding? He is the Great Sir Pentious, conqueror of large amounts of land, and one of the greatest inventors in Hell! He shouldn’t have to be cowering in fear over some housemates that he’d never met before. Pentious could build something, a lazer gun, a defense system, anything he wanted! He could make this trip easy as cake if he wanted to!
So then why wouldn’t he?
Pentious brought himself to sit up in his circular bed that sat in the center of the room, staring into pure nothingness. Or rather the rug before the door, that is. Why wouldn’t he try and take matters into his own hands? He could simply break apart anything and everything in this house, create one giant lazer, and remove everyone here!
Sir Pentious is a man to be feared!
Sir Pentious is capable of overcoming situations like these!
Sir Pentious was great.
With a sigh, Pentious fell back onto the mattress with the slight creak of the springs beneath it. He had gone soft, hadn’t he? It was the purpose of Charlie’s hotel, after all, but it felt wrong. You’d think after nearly 150 or more years living in Hell would prepare you for this type of situation. Instead, Pentious was helpless.
Sir Pentious was in fear.
Sir Pentious is unable to overcome this.
Sir Pentious cannot trust anyone, that was his mantra that got him all the way through Hell throughout the years, why not use it now? Why not just wait out the ten days in his bedroom? Who’s to stop him, the human?
A simple knock at the door swiftly shot Pentious back into existence, darting his head over to the wooden door. After a small pause the knock was repeated, followed by a small voice, “Pentious?”
He didn’t recognize the voice, but he did. It was one of his new roommates, but he couldn’t trust it. It could be fake, or it could just be them waiting to attack the moment he takes a step outside the door. That always happened in Hell. Maybe he was still in Hell, maybe it was Charlie.
The door creaked open slowly, Pentious braced himself either expecting a demon wielding a weapon and ready to strike or simply Vagatha who was about to tell him to go downstairs for a continental breakfast.
Moxxie stood at the entrance of the doorway, nervously wringing his claws together with a crooked smile, “Oh, you’re awake, okay..- We were just wondering where you were because you haven’t come down to eat yet?”
Pentious stared for a moment, before clearing his throat abruptly, “O-Oh! Yessss, thank you, I have uhm.. I jussst slept in, is all.” A fake cough to fix his speech, “I will be down in a moment.” He concluded. Moxxie gave a warm smile as he closed the door behind him as he left Pentious in the cold room.
’It could be a trap.’ His mind rang of excuses and worries. Anything could happen down there, and the longer he stayed put, the worse the thoughts became. However, his internal organs said otherwise as he was once again interrupted by the loud sounds that came from his torso that demanded food.
Pentious groaned, placing his now sentient hat atop his head and slithering out into the hallway. The snake felt beads of sweat begin to form on his head as he heard the sounds of people conversing fade into his ears, despite the fact he doesn’t really have any.
At the top of the stairs, Pentious caught a glimpse of the majority of the house sitting at the dining table, while a good few rested at the couch in the living room. It seemed like he had woken up late.
He slid down the last few steps as he made his way over to the kitchen, where limited amounts of breakfast foods were displayed about the counter. Though, it was mostly just bacon and eggs.
Oh how he missed his eggs.
”Good morning, Pentious!” N chimed from the table, waving at the sinner for him to sit down with the group, which consisted of Rouxls, Donnie, Moxxie, and Licorice Cookie.
Sir Pentious nodded, “Ah- Good morning to you as well.” He hoped that response would suffice for now. It seemed as N pleasantly turned back to the table with the conversation back in full swing while Pentious simply approached with a plate of bacon and a glass of water.
He stared at the platter of food before him, glaring at the actually clear water and not burnt bacon, something you never really see in Hell. Could the food be poisoned? Is clear water a side effect of mercury placed into it? Were they trying to kill him?
”I hope you like the food, Rouxls made the eggs and I did the bacon!” N started, grinning cheerfully at seemingly nothing but his place, “Wait- scratch that, Moxxie helped me so technically it was him. Either way, is it good?”
Pentious paused, “Oh, yes, it’s wonderful, thank you.” He choked out, it felt almost forced the way he said it out loud. N thought nothing of it and began to drink more of the can of oil he held in his hands.
Rouxls took his time eating this breakfast, which mainly consisted of vegan material which was nearly finished, while Moxxie was just beginning to eat his eggs. Licorice simply had a bone on his plate, most likely the remains of his “stamina jelly” and Donnie brought his plate to the kitchen before walking towards the living room where the rest of the others sat.
”Thoust food is gettingeth cold.” Rouxls’ voice suddenly rang through Pentious’ ears as he realized he was talking to him. Pentious brought his gaze back to his plate of food, which was once emitting a small trail of fresh smoke, was now cold.
He nodded, “Right, my apologiesss.” As Pentious began to poke and prod at his eggs, he felt an odd sense of deja vu in a way, a wave of familiarity that washed over his whole body in one swipe. He could hear faint whispers that sounded of his Egg Bois. He heard the bustling sounds of the hotel kitchen where Vaggie and Alastor would work. He heard Charlie trying to make conversation with Husk at the bar. He heard Niffty as she tried for the tenth time to stab Angel Dust as per a mistake in Charlie’s words.
He heard the phantom sounds of his friends.
Yet when he looked up to find them, they were gone.
”You good, man?” Licorice eyed the snake with confusion, and even the slightest hint of concern. It was then that Pentious realized everyone left at the table was looking at him in a similar fashion, the amount of eyes upon him was nearly overwhelming.
He could only nod, “Yesss. I am perfectly fine.”
Small glances were spared about the table, and Pentious was no idiot, he could easily see them. However, he chose to ignore them, even if the anxiety rising inside his stomach would soon become a future problem for him.
”Do you… wanna talk about it?” Moxxie asked, his hands tucked in his lap while he stared at Pentious like a parent looking at their sad child.
Pentious tilted his head, “I’m sssorry?”
”Whateth he means, thou art homesicketh, correcte?” Rouxls continued, “Twas not hard to noticeth, we’ve all been goingth thougheth that.”
Was he really that obvious? God, did he feel embarrassed as all hell right now, averting his gaze towards the floor beside him instead of anyone else at the table. Hissing barely under his breath, he answered, “I’d… rather not here, thank you for your concern.” Pentious was quick to move back to his room upstairs.
In the safe confinement of his bedroom, Pentious was unable to relax or sit still amongst his loud internal thoughts. Normally, his room would be a space for him to think of inventions and what-not, it was somewhere he could come if he felt as if he didn’t want to talk to anyone no longer, or if he was just plain-out drunk.
Yet, Sir Pentious found himself unable to do any of such a thing, only being able to spray his reptilian body along his bed and face up at the ceiling, taking in huge breaths after another. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous, to be true, he just felt cramped, hot, and like a ticking time bomb.
He closed his eyes, hoping it would help him ride out the anxiety that felt as if it were taking over his entire body by now. Pentious would be terrified if anyone were to open the door and see himself in this vulnerable state. Vulnerability gets you killed, another repeated sentence he would quote during his life in Hell.
But no matter how many times he tried, pushing and shoving his mind into getting up to at least look like he was doing something for once, Pentious laid on the bed. Nearly shaking and sweaty.
Maybe he was homesick, of course he f*cking was, who wouldn’t be? But that reminder would not soothe the situation by any means, it made it worse to tell the truth, so then what the hell could he do instead of sitting on a bed being useless?
Nothing. That was all he could do. Just sit.
Sir Pentious closed his eyes one last time, taking a large and long inhale, and hoping that by the time he opened his eyes, he’d be back in the hotel. He would wake up to his eggs sprawled about his bed, Angel Dust would be banging on his door to wake up, the breakfast would already have been served, Pentious would be happy.
Instead, he woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his wooden door.
Half of him hoped his prayers worked, despite the irony, that Angel Dust would actually be on the other side of the door. The other half of him had completely given up, it’s not your friends, it could be someone just trying to murk you. Again.
Hesitantly, Pentious rose from his bed, yet not making a move to the door. He let out a shaky breath, “Yesss…?”
He heard someone abruptly clear their throat on the other side, before they spoke, “Hey, it’s um.. it’s Donnie. Can I come in?”
Sir Pentious’ eyebrows furrowed, Donatello and him had bonded in a way over the past few nights. And while those long ramblings over inventions and such had been some of the most fun he’s had in over one hundred years, something told him not to open that door. Pentious took note of all the inventions and gears Donnie had crafted, bō sticks, weaponry and machines of all kinds, technology that would rival those of Voxtek, and so, so much more. If anyone here would have the highest chance of assassinating Sir Pentious, it was Donatello.
And rightfully so, didn’t he say he was a ninja?
”Are you… still there?”
Nearly choking on his own spit, Pentious quickly answered back without thinking really, “Y-Yes! Come in, of courssse.”
Panic rose inside his body, he wasn’t sure why he invited Donnie in, wasn’t he just thinking of all the ways he could kill him? Still, Pentious watched as Donatello slowly opened the door to step in, taking large, less confident, strides to the opposite side of the room to face Pentious, who was sitting halfway off the bed.
There was a long pause before anyone would speak, Pentious meanwhile was paranoid of all the technology Donnie could potentially unleash at him while he had his guard down. So, he kept a shaky gaze on the turtle, eyeing him for any sign of a threat.
Donnie made a noise similar to that of a sigh, “I, um.. I heard about your conversation earlier this morning. With Rouxls? I guess I just wanted to come in here and.. check on how you were doing.” He lowered his head to focus on his interlocked hands, “I’ve been… dealing with a similar kind of situation, homesickness and all that. N wanted me to ask this to you but,.. are you okay?”
Pentious’ breath hitched in his throat, he analyzed his answer as well as the teen before him. It’s a trap, his mind rang, but he wanted to answer. Sir Pentious stayed silent for a moment, obviously overlooking how to respond to such a question.
”Are you trying to kill me?” He blurted out. Pentious didn’t mean to, it was the first thing on his mind, and he desperately needed an answer just as Donnie did.
The turtle in question looked at Pentious with a puzzled expression, “Kill you?” he repeated for clarification, to which Pentious slowly nodded to.
Pursuing his lips, Donnie continued, “No. I’ll be very straightforward with this actually, I thought you would kill me. But if what you’re worried about is everyone here trying to kill you, then I must assure you that nothing of those sorts will ever happen.”
”How do you know?” Pentious asked, the question was both a mix of himself glaring angrily at the teenager, as well as fearfully shaking in his spot.
”Well… it’s only been, what, four days? Don’t you think if anyone here were to actually kill you they would’ve done it by now?” Donnie raised an eyebrow, “But I’m certainly not helping your case, you’ve been paranoid about that this whole time, haven’t you?”
Pentious nodded sadly, “Yesss… It was.. quite normal back in Hell to be aware of whether sssomeone were to plan an attack on you. Essspecially in a vulnerable state like thisss.”
Donnie sat silently, digesting Pentious’ words as he began to form a response to Pentious’ own answer, “Well… we’re not in Hell, right?”
Sir Pentious stiffened at Donnie’s response, a short and simple answer that forced the snake to freeze.
He wasn’t in Hell,
This was not Hell,
Nobody from here has ever been to Hell,
”Sssso… I’m safe?”
Donnie laughed, “Sure, if that’s how you would put it.”
”And… you are absssolutely sure nobody is going to kill me?”
”Pentious, I don’t think anyone here would mess with a snake demon who lived in Hell, of all places, for over a hundred years.”
Sir Pentious smiled, “Thank you.” He allowed himself to look at the turtle’s eyes directly, “I definitely feel much better now.”
Donnie offered nothing but a warm smile back, he glanced around the room before leaning forward a tinge more, “I.. usually don’t do this but since you were having a rough day, so to speak, I brought some spare parts to.. craft with, I suppose.”
Pentious’ eyes sparkled as he saw Donnie lift a pile of metal and wires from his metal shell and drop onto the floor, that was certainly a safety hazard for damaged material but Pentious couldn’ bring himself to care. Inventing was his greatest talent, after all.
Donnie crawled onto the floor in a seated position, looking up at Pentious one last time, “If you’re still feeling paranoid about living here, would you care to join me in building a defense system for our rooms?”
Sir Pentious never agreed to something so outrageous so quickly.
“God, how much longer are they going to spend up in their dork room?!”
”They’re having fun together, Sokka. We should let them be for now.”
”It’s nearly dinner time, Wilt! I’m absolutely starving!”
”How about we calm down on the group dinners for now?” N approached the two, “I think a break is surely needed around here.”
Sokka grunted, “Fine, but still, anyone got any meat here?”
Sighing, N pointed with his thumb towards the fridge in the kitchen, “Top shelf, there’s some leftover bacon from this morning.”
”Great thanks!” Sokka said as he sped off to eat, to which N playfully shook his head at.
Rouxls Kaard, holding a squirming Licorice in one hand and an upset Marvin in the other, approached quite calmly, “They art takingth their sweeth time, don’test thou think?”
Wilt shrugged, “I’d be happy to find someone with my similar interests too.”
”Your interests only involve basketball.” Licorice muttered in Rouxls’ grasp, crossing his arms in a childish act.
N hummed, “I’ll go ahead and tell them to come downstairs whenever they’re ready, but don’t force them down yet. Still- ehh.. getting adjusted, y’know?” With that, N made haste to run up the wooden stairs to Pentious’ room, where N could faintly hear the loud conversation between Sir Pentious and Donnie.
They had been working for nearly six hours now! N could barely believe it, but he was glad they were bonding nonetheless.
N knocked on the door a couple of times, simply to grab their attention, but never opened it, “Hey guys, dinner’s ready whenever you’re ready to come down!”
“Thanksss!”
“We’ll be down in a few minutes.” Came the muffled responses from behind the door.
With that confirmation, N smiled and walked back downstairs.
Day 3 Complete
