Viperacomous

Viperacomous - Greek for 'one who possess snakes for hair'.

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She is not intimidating on first sight. The bright pink splatter on her dark hide is almost humourous. You stay in her presence for a long time, longer than you should have, until you notice the smell. It's as you wrinkle your nose and turn your head towards the sickly sweet that you notice the malice in her eyes and the slice of a smile on her face.

"What a disappointment I would be to my predecessors if I was not poisonous," she says casually, and that is when you start to choke.

"Only I hold the poison in my skin, darling. You should have found a different place to work."

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Viperacomous is quietly vicious. While her mother's temper would have suited her well, it is her father's good nature that she outwardly inherited. However, when she was young, her mother's side discovered the potent venom that seeps from between her scales.

It wasn't long before she was put to work.

No one suspects her, with her calm personaliy and shocking looks. But that's the good of it. She only needs to stay in the room with a victim for long enough and they die.

It puts a damper on her love life, however, though her siblings seem to be immune. Love's for suckers, anyway, so she thinks. She's better off on her own.

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Paperback dreams
In their deep doze
Twitch their toes to
Black mambo