Survival Of The Fittest

Abby nodded excitedly at Cristo's question. "Uh-huh! I know they're kind of creepy, but if you treat 'em right, snakes and lizards and such can be just as happy and loyal as a puppy in their own way, and I want to learn how. Everyone deserves someone to love them, even the spooky critters, y'know?"

She skipped back towards the house, Babushka slipping in front of her and mewling at the door before she could even hit the front porch. Elvis still seemed pretty taken with Cristo, so she'd have to keep an extra careful eye on him and Hatchpatch when they went in. Everybody was astir with a new face to learn in the house, and while that was kind of troublesome, it also made her happy that all her little friends were just as interested in her new big friend as she was. "Sure! He's upstairs in my room. Can you keep an eye on Elvis for me? We try to keep him outside unless it's ugly out, otherwise he gets into things he knows he shouldn't."

Abby was probably the nicest person Cristóbal had ever met, and he was glad she was his friend. Things like that typically went without saying, but every now and again he liked to dwell on them. He couldn't think of many people who would want to go near a snake, much less raise one from a baby to an adult, but if anyone could do it, he was sure that Abby could. She had that way about her that made you want to trust her, even if you didn't know her well.

Cristo smiled and nodded in agreement, gently scooting Elvis back towards his doghouse before following Abby back inside. Curiosity was gradually overcoming nerves, and who knew? Maybe he'd end up liking Little Horn as much as he liked Elvis and Babushka. Once again, he felt a little pang of envy for Abby's crowded, exciting home, but he tried to ignore it. It felt ungrateful to be jealous of what his friend had, like he wasn't really happy with his family when he knew that he was. And just because they didn't have any pets now didn't mean they could never have any. Maybe his mom would let him get a dog like Elvis once he got older, or if they ever moved to a bigger house.

Once the pets were seen to, Abby was bouncing and giggling up the stairs, waving back to Cristo as they went. "C'mon, my rooms up here!" She hadn't gotten to show any of her friends Little Horn yet, so she was out of her skin with excitement. With how much care and attention he needed, Little Horn felt like her special responsibility, so he was more than just a pet. She loved all of her little friends, of course, but none needed her love as much as Little Horn, especially since there seemed to be so few other people that would take care of critters like him compared to the furry, fluffy ones like Babushka or Elvis.

As she crossed into her room, she flipped on a small lamp instead of the big overhead light, just so she wouldn't startle him. Now, she didn't really know if that could startle him in the first place, but it seemed like a possibility, so why not be polite? There, under the red glow of the heat lamp, was her baby. The light of the room let his orange and black speckled pattern show as he lay atop his rock, a few lazy flickers of tongue the only movement visible through the glass. Abby approached calmly and quietly, looking back at Cristo and speaking in a hushed tone. "He might not be in the mood to come out and play right now," she said softly, "hognoses are a little moody sometimes. But he won't mind you looking, if you want to, and I can ask Papa to come take him out and help you if you really wanna hold him."

Cristo followed Abby up to her room, curiosity starting to overcome nervousness. How bad could a little baby snake be? Still, he stuck close to Abby's shoulder as she showed him to her room and lead him to the tank that Little Horn sat in.

He was smaller than Cristo had expected, even with Abby's explanation of how he would grow. Cuter too, with a pretty speckled pattern on his scales. He would have looked right at home in any of the tanks at the zoo, despite being smaller than most of the snakes on display there. "I'll just look up close for a minute, and then maybe we can see about getting him out."

Cristo shuffled closer to Little Horn's tank and leaned down to peer into the side closest to him. Little Horn didn't seem especially interested in a new person the way the other animals had been, but then snakes weren't exactly known for being friendly, cuddly pets. He flicked his tongue every few seconds, like he was tasting the air; snakes smelled with their tongues or something like that, right? Cristo was pretty sure he'd read that somewhere.

He glanced over to smile at Abby and show her that he wasn't afraid. "He looks nice."

Little Horn craned his head slightly towards them, almost too small a movement to notice, but Abby had learned to keep an eye out for that sort of thing and clapped her hands quietly, both from his attention and from the way Cristo seemed to be okay with him. "He's just cute as a button," she said softly, "the sweetest of his whole clutch, I'd say. He doesn't do a whole lot, but he's happy to meet you. I can tell."

Abby looked around her room and was embarrassed for a moment with how messy things were. There were books and clothes on the floor, and she hadn't made her bed this morning. She hoped Cristo didn't think less of her for it. She was so busy preparing everything downstairs that she'd completely forgotten to clean up in here. Maybe he was messy too? He didn't seem messy, though. She really needed to work on that.

She coughed a little awkwardly. "So, um...we can do pretty much whatever you want! Granny and I made snacks, and we have all kinds of games and movies and stuff." Her brief nerves settled down and she was smiling again. Tonight was going to be great, and that was that.

Cristo rocked on his heels as Abby listed off the things they could do until it was time for bed. That was hours away, and they had games, movies, pets...

He grinned. "What do you want to do first?" There were so many choices that he couldn't begin to narrow it down, but bubbling excitement had taken over all of his worries for now. His first sleepover with his best friend!

And maybe later in the evening, they could take Little Horn out of his tank and Cristo could hold him. It didn't seem completely out of the question now.

Hmm. That was a pretty tough question, with so much to pick from. She had a pretty good idea where to start, though! She smiled and took Cristo's hand. "Let's go get some snacks, and we can figure it out from there!"

Exactly where they'd head next was up in the air at this point. From the way things were going though, she had a pretty good feeling that this was going to be an amazing night.

She was so blessed to have a friend like Cristo in her life.

((Abby Floyd Remembered Elsewhere))

"Snacks sound great." Cristo let Abby lead him back downstairs to the kitchen, grin never leaving his face. He turned back just a moment in the doorway to give Little Horn a wave before they left.

This was going to be the best night ever.

((Thread concluded))