Neville smiled as he carefully transferred Lucky to the makeshift habitat he created. It was not perfect, but it was functional. Lucky explored its new environment with curiosity, investigating every corner.

When he looked up again, Shelly was nowhere to be seen, probably to save his ’savings’ since there was another expense on the house.

"Okay," he announced, scrolling through the system mall. "Dinner time. What do snakes even eat?"

He offered a piece of raw salmon on a pair of disposable chopsticks. Lucky examined the offering with what looked like skepticism, tongue flicking out repeatedly to test the scent.

Then it turned its head away in clear rejection.

"Not a fish fan?" Neville tried a smaller piece. Same result. "Come on, you need to eat something." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Twenty minutes and several rejected offerings later, Neville was ready to admit defeat. Even the Universal Reptilian Nutrient Cubes from the System Mall were ignored.

Lucky didn’t look full or hungry, but it was listless. Its bright silver eyes were slightly dimmer than before.

He found himself sitting next to the habitat he put together and gently resting one hand on Lucky’s back. The scales were cool to the touch, and he could feel the subtle rise and fall of their breathing.

"I’m trying," he whispered. He was even surprised that he sounded so sad, so pitiful. "I know I’m not... I know you probably want someone else. Someone better at this. But I’m trying."

Lucky stirred around, lifting its head to look at him. For a moment, those silver eyes seemed to express their understanding. Then, it moved out of the habitat into Neville’s lap as if to comfort him.

"Oh," Neville still sounded a little off, but he quickly recovered as if nothing had happened. Lucky, as if doubting what had just happened, coiled loosely around his waist with its head coming to rest against his chest. "Okay. This is... this is good?"

A soft hiss was his only response, but Lucky’s body relaxed completely, trusting him to support its weight. Neville carefully moved to lean against the wall, making himself more comfortable without disturbing his new companion.

Satisfied, Lucky’s eyes had drifted closed, its breathing had evened out. The weight of it was comforting, calming in a way Neville hadn’t expected, forcing him to slow down and enjoy the moment.

Seeing Lucky slept peacefully in his arms. Neville found himself oddly reluctant to move, even as his position became uncomfortable.

To make the most of his time, Neville spent the rest of the afternoon compiling his findings on Lucky.

"...Prefer body temperatures, maybe slightly cooler..." he muttered as he typed it into his notes.

He remembered when he opened the refrigerator, and Lucky quickly came close as if to catch the coldness.

"...definitely hate raw meat..."

After disdaining the Level-5 Cosmic Beast Meat, he definitely saw Lucky sneaking a bite into his sandwich earlier. It was just that when he looked at the perfectly ruined sandwich, he only found the ham gone.

Just the ham.

Picky little thing.

"You’re quite something, aren’t you?" he murmured, gently running a finger along Lucky’s smooth scales.

Lucky suddenly moved in his lap as if to sense his thoughts, reminding him that it was still there. Neville quickly saved his notes and stretched his limbs. The clicking and clacking just reminded him to exercise more, which he would rather not think about.

As if to protest, his body suddenly felt the familiar discomfort that he did for the past few days. He looked at the window and saw that it was already dark.

Lucky seemed to sense his distress. It uncoiled itself from his lap and slithered up to his arm, then rested against his neck. The cool touch of its scales provided unexpected relief against his flushed skin.

"Thank you," Neville said as he carefully lifted Lucky as he stood up. His legs protested the movement, numb from sitting too long. He was a little embarrassed for a second there. "Come on, let’s get you properly settled."

At first, he tried to move Lucky back to the habitat, but it clearly didn’t want to move back there.

What’s the problem?

Then he found the soft bedding that he hadn’t put on the habitat and placed it near his bed.

Neville bent down and beckoned him to move to the new bedding, "There you go, little one. All comfortable?"

Lucky slithered down and coiled into a perfect spiral. But its eyes remained fixated on Neville, watching intently, almost like a certain someone.

"Great. Make yourself at home." He said as he prepared for the long, painful night.

First, he took the basic transformation pill since the ban was already lifted. It would make sure that he wouldn’t need to sleep in the tub again and still be in human form throughout the night.

Then he took sleeping pills, followed by painkillers. The combination might not be entirely safe, but what was the worst that could happen? Death? He had already experienced that once. But still, here he was, alive in another world, dealing with this bullshit.

The only thing that concerned him now was his uncontrollable pheromones. It would run rampant all the time, especially when he was in pain. He didn’t know if snake pets even had a vomeronasal organ to detect pheromones.

He changed into loose sleeping clothes, grateful for the soft fabric against his hypersensitive skin. Every texture seemed magnified during this time that even his usual cheap cotton sheets felt like sandpaper. He would have to invest in hypoallergenic silk bedding if these were to happen a couple more times in the future.

Neville took one last check on Lucky and said, "Good night."

Lucky made a soft sound, almost like a purr if snakes could purr. Its eyes had drifted closed again.

Neville found himself smiling as he pulled the covers up to his chin. Feeling the medication beginning to work, his eyelids grew heavy, and the familiar fog of sleep started creeping in.

As consciousness faded, he thought he heard movement from Lucky’s new nest, but the thought scattered before he could grasp it.