Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 27

The last five hours slowed to a crawl, finding myself pacing around the back area as the minutes ticked by.

I had double checked the e-mail sent by Jeff, reconfirming the timetable that I was working with and ensuring that I was going to lead the nagas to the correct area. I had most of the aerial view of the map memorized, remembering some details of when I was brought back to the zoo from the hospital. I ran through imaginary situations in my head, coming up with problems that could possibly happen and figuring out how I would go about solving it before the nagas were discovered missing.

Another look at the clock told me that only two hours had passed since the last time I checked.

A deep groan rumbled through my throat, resigning to lay down on the bed and throwing an arm over my eyes in frustration. After a few quiet moments, I sat back up and walked towards Ichi's enclosure.

Pulling the door closed behind me, I sat on one of the 'logs' in his room before looking around. The substrate had been freshened up since I was in here last, probably something Sasha did during her volunteer time. The gentle splash of water could be heard throughout the room, much quieter than it was in the other enclosures.

"...are you just gonna sit there...?" Ichi's voice came from the back corner where the heating light was affixed.

"I was getting antsy on my own, so I decided to come in here," I responded before standing up and making my way towards the lavender corn naga, his head barely lifting up to watch me as I came closer, "If the other people need a reason for me being in here, then let them think I'm checking on the wound."

"You said that you wouldn't bother me about it ever again," His eyes partially narrowed, the irises growing thin.

"I'm not actually going to look at it, Ichi. I just...need to let out some pent-up energy."

"By talking to me...?"

"I don't know," I sat down heavily in front of him, my eyes following the line of his spine from his waist as it corded over itself multiple times before ending at the tip of his tail, "You're the only one I don't really know very much about, but I'd like to try and change that before this all happens."

"...my brothers put you up to this, didn't they?" Ichi sighed as he turned his torso to the side, ensuring that his back was facing me.

"No, they didn't. This is something that I've been meaning to do for a little while, but...events stopped me from doing so," I caught a glimpse of the knife wound in Ichi's side, satisfied to see that it wasn't getting worse.

"My name is Ichi and I'm a piece of trash. Fuck off."

"I will when I find out more about you," I laughed a little, "I already know your name, but didn't know that you were a piece of trash."

"Are...present-tense," His chest huffed as he gave a sigh.

"Sorry. I didn't know that you are a piece of trash," I corrected myself as my fingers began to play with the substrate by my crossed legs, "Well, my name is (y/n) and I take care of six nagas that I love. My favorite animals are cats and snakes, and I used to dream of opening a cat cafe before enrolling in college."

"Cats...?" Ichi slightly turned around to face me again, "You mean you like those big clawed beasts?"

"Big...? Oh! No, I meant the smaller ones. Housecats," I shook my head a little, "The big ones are cute, too, but I prefer not getting turned into mincemeat when I try to hug one."

"There are...smaller ones?"

"Of course! Humans bred the bigger cats until they thought they were small enough for people to have them safely in their homes. There are different colors and breeds now, but most housecats are small enough to fit in our laps," I used my hands to outline how big modern domesticated cats were, watching Ichi's eyes grow in fascination, "They still have claws and teeth, but they can't kill humans with a single swipe anymore."