Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 13

I turned towards the new speaker as I felt Jyushi's coils relax under my hands, letting Karl land on the ground with a moan and a whimper. The red-headed naga slithered up close to him, tugging Karl's head upwards to face him with a hand curled under the man's jaw. Jyushi gave Oso some room, loosely coiling around me and slowly pulling me away from the downed Karl. I could only watch the interaction as Jyushi wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"You still awake?" Oso leaned down towards Karl, the man moaning in pain as his eyes were torn between fear and pain.

Karl slowly nodded.

"Oh, good," Oso released the man's jaw, "You see, we're not as simple-minded as you think we are. If someone hurts something we like, then we get sad. If someone hurts someone we respect, we get mad. And Jyushi really likes (y/n)..."

I felt Jyushi's arms tense up at the mention of his name.

"You're the one that made her upset a few days ago, aren't you?" The reticulated naga's voice rumbled against my back. Karl looked over in fear at Jyushi, not paying me any mind.

"Seems so," Oso glanced back towards Jyushi and I before giving Karl his full attention again, "Now listen...I'm a nice naga, so I'll give you an offer. You can have your life as long as you leave hers alone. I'll even convince my brothers to keep playing this little prisoner game of yours, and we won't try to escape...as long as (y/n) remains as our 'keeper'."

"F-fine..." Karl stuttered, wrapping an arm around his chest as he backed away from Oso, "F-fine...!"

"Then it's a deal," Oso straightened out and moved away from Karl, sweeping an arm towards the elevator doors and freight entrance doors, letting the man pick his exit.

Karl slowly stood up with help from the wall near him and staggered over towards the elevator, using his keycard to call the elevator down. Jyushi, Oso, and I didn't move until the doors closed behind him.

"(Y/n), I was so worried when I heard the yelling...!" Jyushi rubbed his head against mine, slightly tightening his coils around my legs and waist while his arms lowered to my chest, pulling me close against him.

"What are you guys doing out here...?" I rubbed a hand against one of Jyushi's arms while looking over at Oso, "I thought I couldn't get to the door in time."

"When I heard the shouting start, I just simply pushed against the door you kept using," Oso's neutral look fell away with a smirk as he turned from the elevator to me, "I didn't think he'd survive one of my bites, so I got the next best thing."

I looked over as much as I could to see Oso's and Jyushi's enclosure doors wide open, "Do you think he'll actually honor his part of the deal?"

"Who, the human? That's up to him."

"And if he doesn't, then you can always ask us for help," Jyushi laughed.

"Just...promise me something, okay?" I looked at both nagas. They returned the look and waited, "Don't kill anyone."

"Only if they don't hurt you," Jyushi responded immediately with a smile while Oso rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oso...?"

"Fine, I won't kill anyone."

"All right...now I need you two to go back into your rooms. If someone finds you wandering freely down here, I could get into trouble," I looked up at Jyushi, "Jyushi, you can take that other food bucket on the table. Choro wasn't in the mood to eat today."

"Okay!" Jyushi released me and grabbed the bucket before moving towards his enclosure, "(Y/n), don't be shy about asking for help, okay?"

"I won't be, and I'll come back for your amazing hugs in a few hours," I escorted him to the enclosure door, closing it behind him when he was completely inside. Taking in a deep breath and turning to face Oso, the smile dropped from my face.