Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 11

The exhibit had opened against my well wishes for the nagas.

I was forced to stay in the back area while the zoo was open, waiting in near agony as I could imagine the gawking children and skeptical adults staring into the enclosures while the nagas remained unaware that they were being watched. I had warned them all that there could be some noise, since I knew that children and most teenagers tended to ignore the written rules that warned them to not tap on the glass or use the flash on their cameras. Frustrated by my lack of wandering area, I spent most of the open hours pouring through my field journal to try and see if anything was taken from it, modified, or added. A small sense of relief soothed my mind when I found it to be in the same shape that I had left it, despite some of the pages showing signs of use by a small tear or curling.

The nagas and I had discovered that the employee doors were thin enough to talk through, and when they weren't sleeping or exploring their enclosure, most of the nagas wanted to talk.

Ichi hadn't responded to any of my questions, so I had left him alone. I'd rather not make our relationship any worse than it already was.

Glancing at a wall clock to see that the zoo was only open for another two hours, I stood up from the door leading to Todo's enclosure. While he still considered me a 'bad luck charm' and a 'lower life form', I was more interested in learning about what kind of snake he was based on, tolerating verbal jabs at my character while getting some useful information.

He had spoken about life on the island before the 'disgusting humans' invaded and decided to move in, wrecking havoc while setting up weird boxes and stick-like contraptions. Todo clarified that each brother had a territory on the island, dividing it up amongst themselves and picking areas that suited their needs better. Pridefully bragging about his own little corner of paradise, I determined that the enclosures were built with the snake in mind and not the nagas.

Todo preferred a damp wetland, loving to burrow in the loose ground and hunting by ambush. Kara and Choro almost loved the same scenery, using the dense tree cover to catch their prey and rarely coming to the ground except to find water during the dry season. Jyushi was an expert climber, but preferred to live in the wetlands where he could swim and hunt without worry of missing a strike or falling from a tree. Oso and Ichi were primarily groundwellers, only climbing when it was necessary and claiming the flatlands of the island from themselves.

A tone announced the arrival of the elevator, the doors opening to reveal Karl walking in with two other men.

I quickly shut the field journal, trying to discreetly move towards Oso's enclosure right next to Todo's and kept a hand on the locking mechanism. If he was going to try anything again, I wasn't going to give him a warning this time.

His face twisted into amusement before turning towards the two men, "The delivery area for the larger meats is here. The keeper will tell you exactly where to put the orders, and will take care of putting it away."

The two unknown men looked over at me before looking back at Karl. He moved towards the kitchen and continued to direct the food delivery men of what meats came in at what time, finally turning towards me and waving a hand to direct me closer. I didn't move from my spot.

"How often will you be coming?" I asked from where I stood.

"There'll be a delivery every two weeks with what the animals need," One of the men responded, moving his hand to scratch behind his head, "It's already added on to what the zoo requires for the rest of their exhibits."

"That should be fine."

"Your keycards should be updated with the code needed to unlock the elevator," Karl walked them back to the elevator and bid them farewell as the deliverymen used the elevator. My hand tightened on the handle as Karl turned back towards me.