Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 10

"It's too bad that I hold onto my grudges tightly."

I stilled, feeling the blood in my face drain quickly as Oso slowly pulled away from me, his red eyes no longer holding the playfulness from earlier. His black pupils were thin, barely fluctuating as he regarded me with hostility, seeing me as something that had brought disaster to his own.

"Tell me what I can do to remove your grudges..." Staying completely still, I watched as he retreated further from me and sunk back into the river, fully submerging for a moment before resting his head and arms on the far bank.

"You've already talked to four of my brothers, and you still need an answer?" His mouth was hidden by his folded arms in front of his face, but I could hear the slight 'pop' his jaw made.

"Then I'll need time," I stood up, my mind racing through everything that I needed to do, "It's not going to be tomorrow, but I'll do what I can as quickly as I'm able."

Oso lifted his head up a little, a small smirk on his lips.

"That's fine with me. Go check on Choro...make sure his shed isn't stuck," He tilted his head towards the last enclosure, not moving from his position as I walked away.

Taking a deep breath to reset myself after closing Oso's door, I looked towards the employee entrance of the last enclosure and stepped inside before shutting it behind me.

A lush jungle filled the enclosure, covering the ceiling with thick leaves that shadowed the understory and sealed in some humidity, creating a near perfect replica of the jungle part of the island they were living on. Making my way through the open footpath of the bushes, I spied a water feature near the back of the enclosure, but a quick glance told me that it was empty of a green naga. Continuing through to where the soaking pond drained into the rest of the enclosure, I withdrew my foot from stepping on a downed green vine and closely inspected it to see no scales along its visible length.

A green mamba in shed...I swallowed hard. Considering that I'd only 'met' Choro twice, I didn't know much about what his personality was, what set him off or what calmed him down, or anything I could say or do to keep myself from being bitten. All I had to rely on was my herpetology knowledge, and that seemed to only get me so far when the snakes that I was dealing with had the same intelligence as any other human I was around.

The positive: they'd actually be able to tell me what was going on if they ever grew sick or restless, and I'd be able to clearly communicate whatever I was going to have to do to them in regards to shots or health checks.

The negative...half of them were venomous and the other half could kill me by constriction.

"(Y/n)...?"

I froze in a straddled state over the 'river', hearing the voice from right above me.

Shit...

"Choro," I looked upwards to see the green haired naga staring down at me, his human half dropping closer as I continued to watch, "I, uh...I was looking for you."

My legs cried out for relief, but I pushed past the muscle complaints as Choro came closer to my face, his arms reaching down and ghosting over my head and neck. The heat radiated from his palms before I realized he grabbed me from underneath each arm and pulled me upwards. I swallowed a scream as I let my legs go limp, finding myself moved back over the footpath and lowered to the ground, gathering my feet under me.

"Did I go somewhere?" Choro asked as he slid down next to me, slightly wincing as his larger coils moved from the tree he was hanging off of to the ground.

"No, but I wanted to make sure that they...got you in here gently," I stepped away from his coils, noticing the green was much paler than it was yesterday. He was probably a day or two away from shedding his skin.