Project Boa

Water

"I'd be scared of a butterfly before being scared of you." Peter said softly causing me to smile before gently moving a hand behind him to bring him into a hug, which he happily returned as tears brimmed in my eyes causing me to sniffle
"You're such a softie, like a giant scaly puppy." He mumbled into my chest and I carefully put him down before bringing the twins into a hug

Wanda laughed and hugged me back while Pietro tried to wriggle out of my grip as his feet slightly lifted off the ground, while he yelled about being afraid of heights even if he was barely a foot off the ground.

I put them down immediately when I heard the sound of heavy footsteps and the door to the building slammed open so hard I'm surprised it didn't break, I curled slightly tighter around my friends and peeked over my coils to see who it was. I relaxed slightly when I saw that it was Bruce but tilted my head slightly in confusion when I noticed his skin was tinted slightly green 'is he sick?' I looked at his angry expression and whimpered slightly when we locked eyes.

His expression immediately softened and the green tint left as his skin returned to normal. He mumbled a quiet "sorry" and made his way towards us, I moved back as he reached my tail and offered a hand to help as he struggled to climb over it.

With some assistance, he managed to climb on top of my tail and slid down the other side, landing in the makeshift nest
"Dr Banner what are you doing here?" Wanda asked, Bruce sat down and closed his eyes, leaning back on my tail before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

"I couldn't stay in that room much longer without the hulk destroying the med bay." He explained and the other three nodded in understanding while I only tilted my head in confusion.

"Hu-lk?"

"The hulk is a big green giant I turn into when I get angry." Bruce explained

"Oh... why amgry?" 

The other three shared a look that I didn't know the meaning of and Bruce just sighed again and ran a hand across my scales
"I was angry because of how prejudice and stubborn that wizard was being and at the things he said about you."

I nodded and lay my head back on my arms, this time facing the floor as I thought. After a few seconds I felt small hands running through my hair, causing me to smile as I linked the action to Peter
"Big... green" I said under my breath

"Hm?" Peter asked as he continued running his hands through my hair.

I turned my head to the side so I could face Bruce but still allow Peter to run his hands through my hair
"I big green too!" I said excitedly with a smile on my face, before breaking out into a coughing fit causing Peter to grab a chunk of my hair in a strange hug.

Bruce chuckled after my coughing died down and returned my smile "you are! And you spoke so well Dentra I'm so proud of you!" He said and I beamed at him, I would've clapped my hands in excitement but that would disturb Peter who was now, pretty much wrapped in my hair, so I settled for flicking the end of my tail,  accidentally scaring Pietro who was using it as an armrest.
"The difference between you and hulk is that he's big, green and angry, you're bigger green and gentle... and you have a tail." Bruce chuckled

I opened my mouth to ask if I would be able to meet him at some point but all that came out was a strangled croak before I broke into coughs again
"I... get... wa-water." I managed to choke out and the others moved away from me so that I could move.

I loosened my coils and stretched slightly before turning to the forest and making my way towards the river that I had heard on the day I arrived.

The others followed me although I'm not sure why and Peter was about to say something before he was quickly shushed by Bruce who said something along the lines of
"I want to see where he goes" in a quiet voice which caused me to realise that I wasn't supposed to know they were following me, so I pretended I didn't notice them in order to not hurt their feelings.

Eventually I reached the edge of the riverbank and cupped my hands to scoop up the water, taking big gulps of the cold liquid as it soothed my sore throat.

As my the dryness in my throat subsided I decided to slip into the slow moving  river, since I was still quite warm due to the fever I had earlier. I lay back in the cool water and dipped my head under before resurfacing and gently washing my scales of dried blood that remained from my injuries.

Once I considered myself clean and cool enough, I coiled my tail beneath me and used it to help me reach the branches of a nearby tree, which I climbed into after making sure it could hold my weight.

Wrapping my tail around the branches allowing me to stabilise myself, I pulled my torso up into the limbs of the tree and relaxed in it's branches, the parts of my tail that weren't supporting me were hanging down in loops as I relaxed in the tree.

I lay my head down on the thickest part of my tail, my arms clutched against my chest as I closed my eyes and sighed happily.

All while this was happening the small group of humans were watching curiously from the other side of the river, watching what I was doing, a certain scientist taking special interest in the way my arms and tail worked together to help me maneuver through the tree branches.

Bruce was broken out of his scientific trance when Pietro quietly whispered to the group

"What is he doing?"