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

Ichi

The sun was briefly smothered as a thick cloud passed between it and the island, drawing my attention up as the shade cooled down my sun-soaked skin. I took a swig of water from one of the canteens from the lab, finishing the last little bit before pulling the plastic spout from my lips and looking towards the work that I had been doing for a majority of the day.

Three stone bowls sat on top of the ragged boulder underneath my crossed legs, the hardened stone tools resting near my knees as three more stone bowls sat in a neat stack to my left. I had been carving the stone tools and dishware for a majority of the time that I spent in Ichi's territory, crafting what I could without interfering with anything that he was doing.

I felt a frown start to pull at the corners of my lips, setting the water canteen gently on my right knee and leaning onto my hand, the elbow propped up on my knee.

It had been just over two months since the nagas had returned home and, while the others were more than willing to be with me, Ichi hadn't even tried to mate with me. In fact, he seemed to be against the idea completely.

I had confronted him about it in a gentle manner, asking if I was doing something wrong or if it was poorly timed with my ovulation, but he just brushed it off whenever the topic was brought up. Part of me wondered if he was even interested in sex at all, which would've been fine...except I was getting all kinds of mixed signals from the lavender corn naga.

Sometimes Ichi would look like he wanted to be with me, holding me close and offering heated kisses during the hug...only to pull away before I could think of returning the affection. Other times, he wouldn't even let me see him when I came by his territory, and often avoided me during my stay while using his ability to ensure that I couldn't find him.

It was confusing.

Focusing back on the bowls as the sun peeked out from behind the cloud cover, I set down the canteen and began working on the three in front of me again.

I was often reassured by the others that Ichi preferred to do things at his own pace, and that may have included mating. If he really did want to be with me physically, then he'd make sure that it happened.

----

"Another bowl? What happened to the last one?" Oso peered through the opening of my home as I moved towards the 'kitchen' area where I had herbs drying up in the racks I made, placing a stone bowl with the other kitchenware.

"It broke when I was bit, remember?" I turned to look at him from over my shoulder, seeing a look of recognition pass over his face.

"Ah, yeah..." His red-and-black gaze fell to the ground, "Sorry I didn't take care of that faster."

"It's not like you knew something had tried to move into my home overnight, and I'm not holding you responsible for things you couldn't account for."

The moment of silence stretched into a few minutes before either one of us spoke, my attention fixated on reorganizing the arrangement of the dishware.

"(Y/n)," My name fell from Oso's lips with a tense tone, "If I can be honest, I don't think you should go back to Ichi's territory tomorrow. The constant rainfall over the past half-moon has made the mountainside dangerous."

"But, Oso, I've never let the weather stop me from visiting you guys before," Moving back to the entrance, I reached out and held his hand, "That's not fair to him."

"Being in a jungle after a rainstorm is different than being near a mountain, (y/n)," His gaze snapped up to me, "Rocks are a lot harder for us to predict than loose dirt or trees."