Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 3

"You smell different."

I watched as the lips formed the vowels, the mythical naga parting its humanoid jaws to speak to me. The guttural words sounded like normal human speech, the English language flowing through the air without a sense of struggle.

"You...can talk..." The words fell from my mouth as my mind tried to register that I was the one who said them.

"Yeah!" Its lips spread wide in a smile that would've looked normal on a human, its eyes partially closing in response. The naga inched towards me, its hand gripping the ankle of my right boot and applying an immense pressure onto it as it crawled forward. I cried out in pain as I felt my ankle shift to an odd angle, the naga immediately releasing its grip and leaning close to smell the coarse leather of the boot.

I swallowed a gasp as I felt my body suddenly shift towards the naga, my right leg sticking up in the air as it was held aloft. My head hit some of the rocks on the bank before my entire body was lifted into the air, its free hand poking and prodding at everything hanging off my body.

"Your skin is like the others," The naga commented as I was upside down, my hair and arms dangling as I was at the mercy of this powerful creature, "But you smell different from them."

"The others...did they leave yesterday...?" I couldn't shake the feeling that the naga was just as curious as I was, taking a chance to mentally take notes of its appearance.

"Mhmm," It hummed in response. I looked as closely as I could at the waistline, seeing the scales fade into human-like skin below where a belly button would be. The patterns of the scales identified the naga as a reticulated python and the coloring marked it as albino. I was turned around and felt it rub its hand along my back, its fingers marking where my spine was before I felt one tuck underneath my belt.

"Ah! Please, not there!" I reached around and pressed both of my hands where its finger was trying to go, sealing off my lower back and tailbone.

"You don't have a tail," It stated as I was flipped rightside up again, one of its hands gripping the back of my mesh vest and pulling up, "And your skin isn't attached to your body!"

Fighting against the naga wasn't an option. A normal reticulated python could kill a man at a full-grown size, and this naga was nearly three-to-four times as large as that. I'd be crushed with a single flex of its coils if I seemed like a threat...so I hung limply from its hands, letting myself flop around like a doll while it sated its curiosity.

"No...the 'skin' you're talking about is actually called 'clothing'. It's not attached to our actual skin," I offered before I felt a yank near my chest, realizing that the naga had grabbed the tucked-in shirt and lifted upwards. I clamped my arms around my chest and kept the shirt and vest from being lifted all the way off, but my exposed belly seemed to intrigue the naga more than figuring out why I reacted.

Its hand released my shirt and rubbed along the skin of my abdomen, tracing every line and stretch mark it found like it was studying a map for hidden treasure. I shuddered as its cold finger dragged itself along my sides, biting my lip to stop from bursting out in laughter, letting the creature examine me.

"Your skin kinda looks like mine," It brought me closer to its body, pressing me against its own stomach as it looked down to see if our skin tones matched. Its skin was cold, feeling like a slightly chilled ice pack before I felt a rumble rise in its chest. The rumble rose to its throat that tightened into a light hiss as I felt its arms wrap around me, pressing me even tighter against its body as my vision shifted to the left, feeling a thick coil wrap around my upper legs and waist.

I stifled a pitiful whine.

This was how I was going to die...!

"You're so warm, too..." Its voice sounded like the naga was about to fall asleep, "Did you just sun yourself...?"

I found myself wrapped in more coils as the naga lounged next to the tree, pinning me close to it as it tried to sap my body heat. It wasn't uncomfortably tight, but a wrong move on the naga's part could cause my lungs to collapse.

"No...I produce my own heat," The fact that snakes were ectothermic was probably my only saving grace right now, "Do I really feel that warm to you?"

"You're like a movable hot spring..." It hummed as it shifted its arms underneath its own coils, slipping under the back of my shirt as it tried to get itself as close to me as possible, "If I had known that you were this warm, I would've picked you up yesterday..."

My face paled as I thought back to my discovery of the snake trail, never thinking to look above me as the possibility of a new creature kept me too focused on the ground. The proximity of the lab was close enough that Erika had a chance to see the naga, as well...and we were still close enough for her to see the naga!

The thought made me look towards my backpack, the handheld GPS still attached to the front panel as the screen pulsed with low activity. She hadn't tried to ping my location yet, but I couldn't be sure that Erika wasn't paying attention to my stationary position.

"Your heartbeat picked up. Are you okay?" The naga brought my attention back to it, making me tense up at the proximity of our faces. Its tongue flicked out and danced across my face again, the two tines spreading wide before it slipped back into the mouth.

"Kinda? I can't really stay here, since my co-worker may be wondering where I am," I tried to motion with my head that I needed to leave.

"I'll bring you home," The wide smile appeared again, and I had a sinking feeling that it meant its own home, not the lab.

"As much as I'd love to see your lair, I actually have a lot of work to do at my own home. So..." I gave a pointed look at the coils around me.

"You don't want to stay with me...?" The tone took on a somber key, as if I had just told a child that I was taking away his favorite toy.

"Not right now, no. But, if you let me go back to my home, I'll come back here tomorrow, okay?" I felt its arms slide out from underneath my shirt.

"...okay!" The naga completely released its hold on me and lowered me to the ground, letting go when I was standing on my own two feet. It unwound its tail from its anchor point and let me walk towards my backpack, "What time do we meet again...?"

"How about when the sun is high in the sky?" I pointed towards where the sun would be just before noon. The naga nodded before a look of surprise crossed its features.

"My name is Jyushi!" It called out as I slung my backpack over my shoulder again, bending down to gently pick up the wet journal.

"I'm (y/n), and I'll see you tomorrow, Jyushi."