Subject to Study Extended (Lemon, Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Kara

"Are you sure that I'm not hurting you?" I cautiously slathered more of the peppermint-smelling paste across my hands before gently laying them on the deep wounds that remained from Jyushi's attack, the viper naga completely relaxed under my touch as he sat in the spring near my home. I still felt his skin jump at the light contact before I massaged the paste into the fading wound.

"Just a little cold, but that's it," Kara's response was light, his head falling back to look at me sitting right behind him, "I know that you've been on the island for a few weeks now, but is there anything that you wanted to do?"

"Like what?" I lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, rubbing the last of the handmade paste onto his shoulders before moving to sit by Kara's side. I dipped my feet into the cool spring water, my boots and socks left by the spring's shore when Kara had asked for help applying the herbal medicine.

"Well," Kara adjusted his position, propping an elbow up on the grassy embankment while letting most of his chest sink deeper into the slow-moving spring, his tail completely submerged in its depths, "You've finished making your home here, I've pointed out the dangerous places in my territory and what to do when you accidentally fall into them. I'm just curious about what's going on in your mind in regards to the next step you want to take."

"I'm just kinda living life day by day," My eyes followed the line of his side, mentally creating the outline of his tail as the teal-blue merged with the dark waters perfectly, "There's still a few places that I want to explore, but nothing much really beyond that."

He hummed a little before his copper gaze flicked up to the thick canopy above us, "When we were locked away in those cages, the ones with the black wall, I had a lot of time to think about different things. Sometimes I thought about what it would be like to break down that wall and be with those on the other side, while other times I became fascinated with listening to what they were talking about."

I continued to listen, leaning down to rinse off my hands in the water.

"Humans are definitely creatures that can become bored very quickly, some of them wanting to look at my brothers' cages when they couldn't find me while others talking about how I looked before diverting to another topic completely."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

"Their behavior made me wonder what you would do if you came with us, stranding yourself on our island without any way to get off of it," His copper hues locked onto mine, "So, my worry is based on the thought that you would quickly become bored of this life if you didn't have anything to do."

"I'm learning a lot from you and your brothers, Kara," I offered a gentle smile, "You've taught me how to make those herbal medicines that I can use, Todo has helped me find edible food while Oso is teaching me how to hunt for meat sources, Choro is helping me create a map of the island and where certain dangers are, and Jyushi helps me with making more and more advanced tools that I can use around the island."

"I didn't hear you mention Ichi."

"Well," Glancing away for a moment, I pressed a thumb into my bottom lip, pulling my hand away after a few seconds, "Ichi's been a little difficult lately, but I don't think it's his fault. With his territory mainly barren of greenery and wildlife, there's not much that I can really do there. I'm certainly remembering the hints or warnings that he gives me, but it's like he's pulling away from me."

Kara remained silent as I thought about how to talk about it.

"It seems that he acts like he wants nothing to do with me," A small frown pulled the corners of my lips down, "The last few visits I've been there, he's completely avoided me and I have to try to hunt him down if I want to talk with him."