Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 13

"So, now you know my predicament here."

"Known for a while," Oso dropped his own smirk, slithering over towards his enclosure, "The humans outside talk about you, saying that you're the naga whisperer. I find the bullshit they spew hilarious, but the reality of the situation isn't as funny."

I opened my mouth to explain, but he raised a hand towards me.

"Don't. I'm sure this 'Calmine' guy is holding us over your head, just like he's holding you over ours. Leverage, like you said," He opened his door wider, "Take your time."

Without a glance backwards, Oso glided into his enclosure and closed the door behind him.

I lowered my head as I slowly walked over and locked Oso's door, leaning against it and sliding down to the ground.

----

To my surprise, the week went by without incident.

I was able to speak with the other nagas as if nothing had happened, but still found it awkward to look Oso in the eye. He seemed to understand that I needed time before I was able to talk with him like I had before, only held back by my own mind.

If I wanted to get the nagas out of here, then I needed someone on the outside who could move about more freely than I was able to. The problem with that was I had no one to trust. My phone wasn't among my possessions, and there wasn't any kind of computer that I had access to.

I explored as far as I was allowed to go, pushing through the large double doors that I was escorted through and wandering the area up until the security booth. There was a keycard pad on the doors next to the booth, cutting off my range as the security officer watched me through the booth glass. With no way to interact with the officer, I turned back around and moved to the room that held my bed.

Sketching the layout I had access to in the field journal, my lips curled into a frown as every plan that I could think of completely relied on me getting some kind of internet connection.

Taking my time on cleaning out each of the naga's enclosures, I spotted each security camera and mapped them out in the journal sketch. As far as I knew, the only place that didn't have cameras was the back area that I was living in.

Choro had fully shed out and kept his distance from me until I was able to convince him that I wasn't holding what he did against him, his apologies slowly vanishing from our conversations. I had found out that he was able to move some of the bottom rocks from the water feature, helping him out with the rest without worry of how soaked I'd get. I wanted him to feel comfortable, my own comfort be damned.

Todo had also shed out completely, returning to his prissy attitude as I gathered up his shed and dumped it into the garbage. Nothing I ever did seemed to be good enough for him, despite following his exact directions for cleaning out his enclosure. I tolerated Todo's verbal barbs a lot better than Karl's.

"Your arm..." Ichi called out in the silence as I cleaned out his enclosure, "...is it okay?"

I stopped raking the substrate and looked over to where he was lounging on a 'fallen tree', completely shocked that he spoke to me.

"Yeah, it's doing better," I quickly recovered, giving him a reassuring smile before turning back to my task. He hummed a little in response, silence falling once more in the enclosure before I heard him take a breath.

"I...heard what happened."

Of course he did...I think all of them did.

"I see," I looked over my shoulder towards him, not pausing in my chore, "You don't need to worry about what happened."

"I'm...glad you were able to rely on Jyushi," I caught a rare smile from Ichi, seeing it for a brief second before his regular disinterested expression replaced the rarity.

"I am, too," Scooping up the pile of substrate into the garbage can, I gave Ichi a relieved look, "I hope that I'll be able to rely on you, too, sometime."

He turned his head to the side with a huff, readjusting himself to lounge on his coils facing away from me.

"Don't make too much of a mess, all right?" I tried to laugh as I hauled the garbage and rake towards the open door of Ichi's enclosure, closing it behind me. As I tossed the bag into a larger garbage bin and wheeled it to the large doors by the security office, I heard the elevator ding down the hall, drawing my attention back to the back area of the enclosures.

"Delivery for...hello?" I heard a voice call out as I headed back towards the area.

"Yeah, I'm right here," Responding as I got closer to the elevator, I saw one of the zoo employees holding a box roughly the size of a medium computer tower.

"Ah, this is the last delivery for today. Mr. Calmine couldn't be reached for signing, so we just sent it straight down to you," The employee smiled as she handed it over, "By the way, I heard what had happened earlier this week in regards to the teen. I am so relieved that you're okay."

"Oh," I glanced down to the package in confusion before recovering, "Yeah, I'm fine. I had warned them that stuff like that may happen, but I guess I was the one not ready for it."

"Are they...you know...real?"

I recognized the spark in her eyes. It was similar to when I first started learning about the nagas.

"The nagas? Yeah, they're all real. I don't know what the placards in front of their enclosures say, but I can guarantee that they're genuine," I gave a wide smile, moving over to the prep table and setting down the package, "The zoo's not getting flak over people claiming them to be hoaxes, is it?"

"Not as much as I thought we'd get," The employee walked in a little further, looking around the back area, "Oh, I'm so rude...My name is Sasha. I work with the exotics upstairs, specifically the venomous section."

"A fellow herpetologist, then. Nice to meet you, Sasha. My name is (y/n), and I'm the naga keeper," I reached out a hand for her to shake, Sasha taking it enthusiastically.

Sasha was a shorter woman, only a few inches shorter than me. Her dyed blonde hair held some semblance of pale pink color, as if she was letting it fade over time, and her brown eyes were full of curiosity.

"Would...it be okay if I came by on my days off? I promise I won't get in the way. I just really want to see them up close."

"Only if my boss allows it and, if he says 'yes', only if they are okay with you," I pointed a thumb towards the enclosures, "They're just as smart as we are, with the same thought processes. It would be rude to invite a guest without the host knowing."

"Oh, of course!" She chided a little, her tone letting me know that she didn't take what I said completely seriously. I refrained from frowning, knowing that this would probably be the only time I'd see her.

"I shouldn't keep you too long. I can walk you to the security station, and they'll let you out," I motioned towards the large freight doors. Sasha turned towards the elevator, noticing the keypad.

"Ah, right. It was nice to meet you, (y/n), and I'll see if I'm able to come hang out."

The officer buzzed her through after she showed her ID card, and Sasha gave me a final wave before the door closed behind her. Walking as calmly as I could down the hallway, I sprinted to the package when I was out of sight from the security booth.

Cutting open the tape sealing up the box, I opened the flaps to see a single folded sheet of paper sitting on top of shredded crinkle paper. Hesitantly, I took the folded paper and opened it up.

'Hope this gives you the lift you need.'

It was signed by Jeff...the helicopter pilot.