#for when the chills hit and you have a nice warm naga to help you through it

[naffeclipse]

Warm Fangs

Naga!Sun x Reader. Sickness.

Prev

As you sleep, the fever worsens. Chills hit you with a violent shudder. The heat from the sickness flees under the quaking cold. You moan softly, curling up tighter. A soft hiss shushes you but you can’t find anything warm, anything warm at all.

The smooth brush of scales loosens from around you. The outside cold slips away from your feverish skin but stays within.

“It hasn’t broken yet,” Moon murmurs distantly. Cold fingertips brush your hair, damp from sweat, away from your forehead. A whine leaves you. You hate how pathetic it sounds inside your head.

“Oh, no. I was afraid it might linger with our poor lily pad,” Sun lowers his voice but he’s not as quiet as his brother, holding a stage whisper more than an actual whisper. You might have smiled if you weren’t bothered by the mottled moonlight giving way to a blue-bright early morning sky. 

It doesn’t feel warm. The sun is supposed to reheat the earth and take away the frost filling your chest with a shivering revolt.

A few quiet exchanges slip away in your near unconsciousness. Gingerly, you become weightless, lifted into the air like a feather before pressed into other arms. Heat, raw and covering, finally touches your body. You breathe out a low sigh, eyelids fluttering to peek up at the source of the heat. The form softly sways as you’re carried away.

“It’s going to be alright,” Sun hums. He looks down at you, his spiky frills flaring around his head in golden hues before the shadow of the cave eclipses the morning sun. “Don’t move, my water lily, you’re still sick.”

“Hmm, I’m fine,” you half moan. Your eyes fall close again. A tender soreness soaks into every muscle, especially at your neck and your shoulders. The deep, deep ache that refuses to go away. 

You shudder with another chill. Sun clicks his tongue in concern, the forked end whipping with a snapping worry. 

“You amaze me, truly. Even in the throes of illness, you’re still so stubborn.” He laughs softly, endearing but in a way that almost makes you push yourself out of his steady arms. He doesn’t get to think you’re cute. Not right now, when you feel how sticky your body is and how weak your limbs dangle as he carries you deeper into the cave you’ve made a shelter within.

“Sun,” you softly groan.

“Save your strength to fight the fever, not me.” A soft peck of his scaly mouth touches your temple. You nearly dissolve under his doting command. “You need to rest and do as I say so you can feel better. I don’t like to see you like this.”

You, in a reflective, rebellious instinct, almost try to kick out your feet and find solid ground, but Sun lowers you to the cold, cave floor. You’re seized by another icy torrent of coldness. Hugging your arms, you quietly groan. A soft swell of tears teem over your eyelids. That’s from the sickness, you tell yourself. You’re not crying because Sun and his sweet warmth let you go.

“I’ll be gone for only a moment, lily pad. Hold on for me, okay?” he singsongs.

You want to snatch the heat that had held back the torturous chills. Lifting your heavy eyes, you scour the dimness of the cave, catching sight of Sun’s long body softly slipping over the stone towards the shelves that were chipped into the wall of the cavern. The rich yellow hues of his scales are bright even in the shadows of rocks. The markings along his waist and around his throat are scarlet and vibrant with warning of his venom. You watch the outline of Sun’s defined shoulders move, taking and gathering, collecting a pale pink blossom you can’t currently name.

Pressed against the wall in a sleepy bundle of his scales, Moon watches you, eyes half lidded but attentive. You didn’t hear him enter. His hands open and close, as if to reach for you. He holds back. You frown at his distance but recall his cool scales through the midnight fever, and drowsily, in fitful half-sleep, wait for Sun.

He returns with a skim over the floor. His presence washes over you with hope.

“Don’t cry, my water lily. I’m here,” Sun coaxes with gentle mirth. A crooked finger swipes the leaking liquid from your eyes.

“Not crying,” you grumble, voice croaking like a frog. “Not a water lily.”

“Oh, I’m going to have to disagree and blame your lack of sense on the sickness,” he chirps as if you were simply the most adorable thing he’s ever seen.

You pry your eyelids open for a glare. You certainly are not a beautiful and grandiose flower. Not right now in your freezing weakness.

Moon’s hissing laughter echoes. It fills you with another short burst of irate energy that lasts for only the moment of his humor. Sun tuts and shoots Moon a look before gently cradling you. The golden naga guides you upright with a tender hand supporting your back. He rests your head on his shoulder, his underside a shiny, pale cream color, and the gentle heat of his body burns away the chills holding you down. 

He lifts up a small flower, pale pink and pom-pom like on the end of a slender, green stalk.

“Eat this. It’ll make you feel better,” he softly insists.

You eye the flower as if it were a venus flytrap, and you were a particularly weak fly.

“What is it?” you murmur.

“I’ve heard humans call it a sensitive plant, sometimes called touch-me-not. If you had told me you weren’t feeling well early, you could have had this sooner.” The chasiting does not evade your awareness. Sun lowers the plant closer, as if offering a rose instead of medicine. “It will help with your fever and chills.”

“Ugh,” you turn your head ahead. The thought of eating when you have no appetite rears an ugly head within you. “I don’t need it.”

“I disagree strongly, lilypad,” Sun crones in disapproval. “Once you eat it, you’ll start to feel better.”

The soft lift to his tone invades you. You want to squirm, keep turning away from the offered medical plant, but Sun’s warmth surrounds you entirely. Gently, his finger guides your cheek until you face him once more.

“Please, won’t you, for me?” His cornflower blue eyes hold you with his plea. From the corners of his wide mouth, the very tips of fangs glint, but you’re not afraid of his bite. He saved you with his venom, once.

You grimace and force your lips to part. Murmuring praises and coaxes alike in a soft, musical tone, Sun presses the flower head to your mouth until you bite it off, and chew laboriously. It tastes green and dry. He watches you, hawk-like, ensuring you masticate the soft, brittle like petals before swallowing against the vicious dryness of your throat. You gasp after gulping.

His smile grows like a sunbeam at sunrise.

“See? It wasn’t so bad.” He tenderly rubs his mouth against your forehead. “Thank you."

The heat of his affection battles the cold underneath your skin, and when you shiver, he holds you tighter. You fall deeper under his fondness.

"This will pass and you’ll be in tip-top shape again,” he says softly, brimming with heated hope.

Oh, Sun. You want to curse him. You want to tell him that he can’t talk like that, melting your insides and making you nothing but an ooey-gooey mess, but you can’t. You are swept away by his sweet tones. 

No one but Sun unbalances you and catches you in the same motion. He’s disarming. He's the only thing that feels right.

You slump against him in another full-body shudder. Softly humming, Sun begins rearranging your limp form, draping your legs across his deliciously warm tail as the dark end wraps your lower legs. The tightness of his coils used to frighten you before you realized how summery and soft he is. He tucks you gently against his arm, lying down to become your personal pillow.

You are so useless. It’s a miracle you haven’t faded away by now—a miracle of two nagas, no less.

“It’s also called humble flower,” he continues with a soft note. “Perhaps you could take that aspect from it as well, my water lily.”

You moan, unable to offer a rebuttal that you are no flower, but his gentle embrace covers you entirely. His chest thrums lightly with a heartbeat you’ve listened to before. A soft hum fills his throat. He continues pressing his mouth against your cheek, the crook of your neck, and the top of your head as if smothering the clammy effect attempting to surface on your body.

“Soon, you’ll rise and we can stroll through the jungle and find more flowers, more flowers like you, and you’ll feel better. Doesn’t that sound nice?” he chatters endlessly.

You can only snuggle deeper against his chest, against his warm, smooth scales, better than any patch of sunlight, and trust in him.

[dimensionwriter]

Sweet Venom Part 2

M!Naga x GN! reader

Warning: None

Word Count: 2966

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"And with that, the Princess was saved by the Prince," You grumbled with your finger following along the pages of the book. The noises from the cafe seemed to disappear as you became immersed in the world from the book.

"Here's your coffee," someone quickly mumbled, placing your drink gently onto the table. You were about to nod them off when a flash of white slid past your table.

"Nohi," you yelled turning around to see him disappearing in the sea of creatures. Again, you missed him again.

Ever since you heard his confession, Nohi has been ignoring you. You assumed you could talk to him while he was working at the cafe, but since it was extremely busy due to the weather warming up, it has been nearly impossible to simply get a clear view of him at all.

"You are a stupid child," Nohi's mother hissed at him from the back. Nohi ignored her and continued to slide his way through the kitchen. "The human is obviously trying to talk to you and you're running with your tail curled up."

Nohi ducked out of the way just in time to miss a spatula being slapped his way. His parents somehow forced it out of him why he never came back that night during the blizzard.

They were ecstatic to hear that he confessed and that you had heard. But then he explained how he left before you woke up and didn't get a chance to talk.

They were angry with him, but he was more angry with himself. All he had to do was simply talk to you and all his anxieties would go away.

But the thought of your beautiful eyes avoiding his as your turn down his confession. Or even worse, your eyes narrowed in disgust as you call him a low life beast. There were too many scenarios that could end up with you rejecting him.

"I want grandchildren and you're killing my dream," his mother yelled pinching his ear. Nohi let out a pained hiss as he slapped his mother's hand away.

"Well, they may not even like me in the first place. So I don't understand why you're acting like this," he snapped at them. He quickly grabbed the muffin on the plate and made his way to the floor.

Nohi's eyes instantly went to your usual spot. Your figure was hunched over and you were biting the tip of your nail. Your eyes were scanning the book, but your eyes were hazed over.

It was eating him up. It was obvious that you wanted to talk to him, but about what? He had a small sliver of hope that maybe you returned his feelings and were doing all of this to express your love. However, all those memories of spilling hot drinks on you, dropping food on you, or just plain on insulting you to your face killed that hope. There was no way in the world you could see him in any good light. So, he believes that if he ignores you, you will give up on trying to reject him.

Day 7. For seven whole days, you have sat in a busy cafe and have been trying to get him to talk to you. Sadly, he's been ignoring you in any way possible. And to be honest, you're tired of it.

You keep thinking of that night and how you woke up in the middle of his confession. You knew he wasn't ready to tell you, so you wanted to be nice and give him some time. And to give yourself time to see how you felt about him. The conclusion was that you wanted to give him a chance, a chance to show you that nice side.

But this is Nohi you're thinking of. He probably knew you were awake and was just pulling some sick joke. And here you are playing right into it. But not any more.

The old Disney movie played in the background as you sat on your couch. A small tub of ice cream laid in front of you was the chosen meal for this afternoon. Since you didn't go to Sweet Venom today, you finished all of your homework for the weekend and did your laundry. It has been such an accomplished day. For a reward, you decided to sit down, watch some of your favorite childhood movies and eat a delicious treat.

"….." You turned your head towards the door. You swear you heard something behind your door. But the neighbors usually get home around this time, so that's normal.

"Hi, no. Too loud," the voice spoke right outside your door. Okay, that is definitely not your neighbor. Maybe it's one of their friends. They do that, even if it's rare.

"Just knock…I can't do it..." You didn't want to be a busy neighbor. What they do is none of your business. I mean, who would want a neighbor prying their nose in all their business?

You pushed your face closer in the door as you looked through the peephole. As long as they don't know, you can be as nosy as you would like.

You were expecting to see your minotaur neighbor with a random person, but it was the complete opposite. Instead there was a 12 feet long naga outside your door curled into a ball. Long black hair covered the face of the creature giving them an aura of mystery. For clothing, they just simply wore a white shirt with a black and white flannel around their waist. It seemed they were trying to keep a colour theme that matched their white tail.

"Just knock and see how they're doing and leave," they grumbled with their black nails scrunching up the flannel. Their tail curled into itself and he scooted away from the door. The light from the corridor finally hit his face.

You stood there with the door pushed open next to you. He actually came to you. Just when you were about to give up, he showed up.

"Nohi," you whispered softly. You wanted to grab him, but you were scared he would disappear. Or worse, he would just leave again.

"Um, hi?" The voice crack was extremely noticeable as he spoke. His face turned pink as he forced out a cough. He reached a finger to push his hair behind his ear.

"You dyed your hair," you pointed out staring at the black hair framing his face. At the front of his face, two strands were still white. Surprisingly, it fitted him.

"Oh yeah, I was bored," he grumbled while self consciously grabbing at it. It felt weird seeing Nohi like this. Usually he was glaring at you or looking at you with his nose turned up. But now nothing but anxiety was radiating off of him.

"Do you want to come in?" You asked, splaying your hand towards your home. Nohi lifted his head as if preparing to nod in acceptance, but stopped.

There was a small war happening in his mind. He wanted nothing more than to come into their house and be surrounded by their sweet smell. There was a bad side to it. It was guaranteed that if he came in, they were going to start a conversation about his confession.

Was he ready for it? Hell no. He would rather deal with a stuck shed than deal with that. How was he supposed to act after the rejection? He couldn't take seeing their beautiful face everyday and have it rubbed into his face that you are out of his lead.

"I'll go make us some hot cocoa while you get settled in," you said softly while turning away. He seemed to be panicking about something, so hopefully some time alone would help him.

You had a feeling what he was worrying about. You couldn't pretend that there wasn't any tension between you two. If he was comfortable with it, maybe you could rip it off like a band aid.

You walked out of the kitchen with two cups of hot chocolate piled on top with marshmallows. When Nohi was here last time, he was quick to drink it while you did your homework.

"Nohi?" Your eyes instantly went to the door to see it was shut. Did he leave? Well, you kind of gave him that option by turning your back on him. You slightly had a hope that he would be here when you got back.

"I'm over here," a soft voice whimpered out. You looked in the corner of your living room to see his head was peeking from behind your couch. His hands were gripping it so hard, for a split second you were worried it would break.

"Why are you on the floor? Come sit," you said with a soft smile on your face. He looked so timid and scared.

It felt kind of horrible that he was acting this way. You didn't know how to read him. When he was ignoring you, you wondered if what he said was a joke. Now that he's here and he's curling into himself and not talking to you, you don't know. Does he feel that this joke went too far and doesn't know how to deal with it?

"Okay, can you please reject me before I throw up from my anxiety," he whimpered, balling up more into himself. A cold chill went down your spine as you processed his words.

"Reject you?" You asked, setting the mugs down and sitting down on the couch. Nohi had shuffled onto the couch, but he was so far on the edge that you didn't know if you could consider him actually sitting.

"I just find it dumb and a waste of time if you're trying to butter me up just to let me down," he grumbled angrily while glaring at the cocoa. "I'm not some baby snake that needs to be comforted. Tell me as it is."

Now you can read him.

"What makes you think I'm going to reject you?" You bent over and grabbed your cup. Taking a small sip, you observed him. His entire face was red and he was shivering slightly, even though it wasn't cold at all.

"I've been nothing but a dick to you. I doubt spilling hot coffee on your lap or smashing cake into your head left me with the greatest position in your book." His fingers found their way back into the poor flannel. It was starting to wrinkle incredibly from his assault on it.

"Not really, if we're being honest. I swear one of those days I was going to jump across the table to strangle you." A small giggled escaped you as you thought back to those days. You were certain of it. The only thing that stopped you was when one of the owner's stopped by to give you a fresh cup of your favorite drink as a thank you for continuing to come. You didn't want to hurt them by ramming a tray into their son's head.

Nohi's diamond pupils slowly expanded out as he watched you laugh. Without realizing it, his shoulders had relaxed down and his tail was sliding towards you. Only when his tail bumped against your shoe did he jump back into reality.

"See, so you have plenty of reasoning to reject me. I'm a lot smarter than the average human, so of course I already understood that." He folded his arms in front of him. Those green eyes turned away from you and went back to glaring at his cup.

You took a long sip of the cocoa. The warmth spreads through your bodies allowing all the tension to seep away from your body.

Nohi doesn't present his emotions in the normal way. It's like he puts up walls to seem unaffected by anything. That's probably why he's always trying to seem angry and cold hearted.

"I feel like you're trying to convince me to not like you. Isn't it supposed to go the other way?" You teased raising an eyebrow. Nohi closed his mouth with a sort of panic in his face. Reaching over, his hands wrapped around his cup and he brought it to his lips. Instead of retorting back, he just silently sipped on the drink.

His black slitted pupils slowly expanded as he looked down at the drink. The white tail slowly uncurled from around itself and just gently placed itself around the bottom of the couch. See, he really did like cocoa.

"You really seem to like my cocoa. I can make you some if you like from now on." Pulling his lips from the cup, a small amount of melted marshmallows were on his lips. His forked tongue came out and flickered it off. That was actually kind of adorable.

"Yeah…Wait? From now on." His head snapped towards you with his pupils slimming again. You let out a small smile.

"I thought you would've figured out with your smart brain," leaning over, you flicked his forehead," If I wasn't interested, why would I not kick you out of my house or why would I go 7 days straight for hours to your cafe?"

His pupils were nothing but pure circles as he stared at you. His black strands floating around his face as if forming this perfect frame around his face. Pink blushed exploded over his face and was slowly turning a dark red.

You reached over and grabbed your drink. You took a long sip to cover up you becoming flustered. He was the one who had confessed to you. You were simply just responding to it. This was your moment to make Nohi flustered and you to be cool and collected.

"Why? What? I'm confused," he sputtered out. He scooted over right next to you. His tail wrapped from around the couch and placed extremely close to you.

"I want to give you a chance," you spoke plainly. His jaw dropped down revealing his pointy fangs. You hid your smirk behind your cup. His shock was so cute.

"You want to give me a chance? Like as in dating?" You couldn't hold the laughter slipping out of you. His tail was thrashing around as his pupils flipped between slits and circles.

"Yes," you laughed out. The corner of Nohi's mouth quirked up and a small amount of laughter escaped out of him. "Unless you're opposing it. I do respect if you don't want to."

He leaped forward with a slight panic in his face. His arms caged you into the corner of the couch leaving you to hug your cup to your chest.

"No, no. I want it. I really really want to date you!" His face was completely red from the positions, but he didn't move away. His warm breath could be felt against your skin as he just stared at you.

"Okay," you whispered, lifting your hand to run it through his black and white hair. It was so soft and so smooth that you barely met any resistance running it through.

Nohi's eyes began to droop as you continue to run your fingers through his hair. Your little naga seemed to be attracted to your heat. He began to snuggle forward a little.

Green eyes stared deeply into yours before flickering down. His eyes dropped again before getting stuck.

"Do I have something on my mouth?" You asked. Getting curious, you lifted your finger to wipe whatever it was off. However, Nohi's hand was quick to hold it down.

"I can- I can get it," he whispered leaning forward. Your heart sped up as you realized what was happening. Nohi was caging you into the corner of the couch while staring at your lips and he was leaning in. His face was completely red, but he looked confident in what he was about to do.

A burning hot feeling exploded on your chest causing you to jump away. Nohi was startled by your movement and jumped back to.

Your cup bounced down onto the floor, but luckily it didn't make a mess since all of its content was on your chest and made its way down. While leaning in, you guess Nohi accidently bumped into your cup causing it to spill on you.

"Please, God no," he whispered. His eyes turned to slits as he pieced together what had happened. All the redness in his face drained away, leaving a sickly pale colour behind. "I didn't- I didn't do that on purpose, I swear. I was trying to… but I didn't see..and..."

You let out a small laugh. He stopped mid stutter to gauge your reaction. Why weren't you yelling at him? That totally seemed like it was on purpose. Are you about to kick him out now? This makes it seem like he wasn't sincere at all. Gosh, you're definitely going to hate him now.

You could see Nohi beginning to sink into himself as he started to move away from you. Oh no he wasn't. You could visibly see himself about to put those walls back up.

You shifted up onto your knees and grabbed the front of his shirt. In one small tug, you had him falling forward, putting you guys in the previous position.

Pink blossomed over his cheeks as he stared down at you. He seemed to be struggling to understand what was happening.

"I thought you were helping me out." You leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, barely catching the side of his mouth. "Can you do that?"

His pupils blew wide as he stared down at you. Something started sliding up your left leg and wrapping around it. His tail was cool on your burning hot skin.

"Gladly."

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Here it is after 20 years. I don't know if this is what you guys had in mind, but tadaaa. Yeah, I was supposed to upload this earlier, but I for some reason dreamt that I uploaded, so I was a little confused.

Remember to Like, Comment, and Reblog. Also, wash your hands and be cautious. I want everyone to be safe.💜💜💜

[theravencawsatmidnight]

blue bird anon: hmm.. If you still asking for fic idea, how about that alpha naga Bakugou and omega human reader story that you did back in last June? Since the fall weather turns cooler, poor Bakugou is so cold. (Naga are cold-blooded) He seeks warmth from the reader bc she's warm blooded. It would be ends up naga cuddle. that would be fluffy! 😁

Ofc ☺️♥️

The air was very thick and the wind was still on this late night. You were busy putting a fire together in your little home waiting for you Alpha to return with his dinner. It was a cold night and it worried you, the leaves were changing and falling by now which meant it was almost winter. Your Alpha hated the cold more than anything, he wanted to move somewhere warmer during this dreadful season but things kept coming up, he could not just up and leave his forest with no protector. You did not mind where you were as long as he was with you but still, you worried about him freezing while he was out.

The fire finally cackled and you sighed holding your hands out too it with a very happy yet tired look on your face. Would be a oven in here soon enough. Once you were warmed up you got up from the perfect spot to fetch blankets and place them down in front of the fire in a nice circle , Alpha never liked having a nest unless you made it for him, and lucky for you it was something you really enjoyed.

The door swung open sending chills down your back. A quick slam and a loud groan filled the tiny home. He sounded annoyed, angry even. Slowly you turned to sit in your nest to see your Aloha slithering to you and tossing his bag to the ground.

“Its. Cold.” He told you making his way under the nest too your lap.

You sat criss cross and wrapped your hands in his hair to massage his scalp. “Yes it is. Ive got the fire going and warm blankets just for you.”

He grumbled something and just squeezed you around the hips, his tail quickly curling under the blankets sticking out just enough for the heat of the fire to hit it all over.

He was quiet for awhile after that, mumbling about the cold here and there, squeezing you , his tail dipping under the blanket and back out for more heat. You continued to massage his head with your thumbs.

“Hey.” He finally said, looking up at you. “You really like this dont you?”

You tolted your head at his question. “Helping you relax and warm up? Of course i do. Any time im with you i enjoy it.”

He pulled you down with him , his tail flipping a blanket over you both. He held you in his arms kissing your head .

“I want to move somewhere warm, and not come back. But i know you enjoy this.”

“Wherever we go, ill be happy Alpha.”

He laughed kissing your face. “I guess we can still do this when we move. Just dont get heatstroke on me.”

You chuckled kissing him back. “Never, my Alpha.”

[rosebloodcat]

Talisman

When Arthur is four, his mother and father explain that they are different from other people.

His father, Tristan Kingsmen, is a human, with two arms, two legs, and an ever warm body. He has sandy blonde and brown hair with dark brown eyes and works as a special policeman for people who are different, like Arthur and his Mama.

His mother, Clara, is not. Clara is a Naga, with two arms, a cold body, and a long scaly tail that extends from her waist down. She has auburn hair and pretty amber eyes and her scales are the same color as her hair. She met his Daddy at work and fell in love.

Arthur is cold and has a tail too, and they tell him that is why he can't go out an play with the other kids in his neighborhood. He is too young to truly understand why, but he listens to them, and stays inside and plays with the special sitters that watch him during the day.

Arthur is six when his mother first gives him his talisman.

“You need it to live with humans,” she tells him. “Most think snakes are scary, so they don't like people like us. Understand?” He doesn't but he wears it every time he leaves the house, just like she told him to. She wants him to get get in the habit of carrying it everywhere with him.

His parents intend to send him to a human school, since their education system is much more thorough and expansive than what's offered for “special” people. They want their little boy to live his life to the fullest, and to choose his future based on what he likes most, over what is simply offered to him.

It's the first time Arthur's allowed to go out and play at the park down the road, so he's happy.

When he's nine, Arthur gets his first glimpse of how mean other kids can be. Specifically the human kids.

A group of boys from his class find a little garden snake in the bushes at school, and take turns picking it up and poking at it with sticks. Only Arthur can hear it yelling for them to stop and to leave it alone. He tries to get them to stop, they don't listen to him and even start trying to pick on him for not being “tough enough” to handle a snake.

Then a group of older kids show up, hit a few of the younger boys, and kill the snake by stomping on it's head.

The boys and Arthur start crying and a teacher shows up and scolds the older boys for hitting other kids, and the younger boys for playing with the “dangerous” snake. Arthur is the only one crying for the snake that just wanted to be left alone.

The incident stays with him.

Arthur is eleven, his parents pass away.

His Uncle Lance is visiting them and is left watching Arthur when a sudden call comes in and both his parents have to leave. He's amazed by his Uncle, who works as a Mechanic. Arthur loves machines and computers, so it's easy for the two to bond.

Lance is in the middle of telling him about something funny his Dad did when they were kids, when one of his Dad's coworker's comes in, his face grim. Uncle Lance tries to keep him from hearing by sending him upstairs, but Arthur hides at the top and hears the officer tell his uncle that his mom and dad died trying to contain a group of anti-cryptid extremists when they attacked one of the hidden markets for “special people”.

It's only when Arthur bursts into tears later that evening that Lance discovers the boy had eavesdropped on the conversation. Comforting people has never been a strong suite for Lance, but for his nephew, he certainly tries. It marks the start of a long difficult period for both their lives.

With no other living family, Arthur is sent to live with his Uncle. His uncle's home town of Tempo is out in the desert, so Arthur knows his chances of being left in the cold are rather low.

At thirteen, Arthur meets and interesting boy in his middle school.

Arthur has always been shy and rather quiet, which lead to him being bullied in his new school. Part way into winter, which was much colder than Arthur had expected of a desert town, he is suffering from the kind of lethargy and chills that all Nagas have to deal with. His sluggish reactions and dulled reflexes have made him a easier target than usual, and very few people tended to stand up to bullies. Which was why he was surprised when someone from one of his classes rescued him, and chased away the kids who thought they'd “have some fun” with him.

The boy's name was Lewis Pepper (who was technically older than him by a couple months), a very tall and strong boy from his grade with a love of the color mauve and Alpacas. And a powerful dislike for bullies of any kind. The boy was very kind, helping Arthur to the nurse's office, collecting his scattered things, and reporting the bullies to the teachers. The clearest thing he remembered of the whole ordeal was that Lewis was very warm, both his manner and his body.

Later, when Lewis approached him for tutoring in math and science, Arthur instantly agreed intending to pay the other boy back for his kindness. He meets Lewis' family when he goes over after school to their restaurant, Pepper Paradiso. He quickly find that finds that he likes them. Mr. Pepper is bouncy and nice to talk to and his sweets are really good, Mrs. Pepper is scary but very kind, and Lewis' three little sisters are curious and excitable.

He surprises them all when he ends up bonding with the eldest daughter, Cayenne, after she tries to scare him by putting her pet snake on his shoulder.

It's the start of a wonderful friendship.

When Arthur is fifteen, the two join a paranormal club.

Lewis joins because he loved the supernatural. The monsters, the ghosts, the cryptids, the myths and stories, it all fascinated the purple haired boy. The sense of mystery and adventure was like a drug for him. Arthur joined for his friend, and for the technology. It amazed him how the human-made devices could detect things that even cryptids like him could miss.

Heading the club was a blue-haired girl named Vivi Yukino, she was three years older than them but she had a boundless kind of energy that made the whole club come alive. Everything about her reminds Arthur of a clear, sunny day, from her clothes to her bright smile. She draws both boys to her, her brightness and open acceptance call to Lewis, and her honest appreciation of his tech and hard work call to Arthur. Even when the other club-members leave, the three stay together.

When Vivi first introduces her dog Mystery, Arthur is nervous. He knows dogs sometimes attack snakes, and he's worried about how the canine will react to him. His worry is misplaced, and finds he enjoys the little dog's company. He can sense that there's more to Mystery than Vivi thinks and he can tell the “dog” feels the same way about him, but they come to an unspoken truce to not call each other out. Personally, Arthur thinks Mystery enjoys having someone who takes him seriously and often talks to the dog about things that worry him.

High school turns out to be a pretty good experience for Arthur.

Arthur is eighteen when Vivi suggests they form a paranormal hunting group.

Vivi has already earned her degree in Mythology, using online classes to help speed up the process. Since Lewis and Arthur still needed money to get their degrees, she suggested they take a year off to save up money and the paranormal cases would be a way for them to earn extra cash, in addition to the jobs they already had.

“And it would be something we could all do together,” She says sunnily, beaming at them. But there was no denying the hopefulness in her tone. It's all she needs to make both boys cave in and agree.

The work is more stressful than Arthur would like, but the relief and thanks of their costumers make it all worth while. Very few of the cases involve real ghosts or cryptids, but being a detective is fun and all the machines and tricks the crooks use are cool and he tends to take a moment to interrogate the culprits about how they built their tricks. He keeps an entire folder on his computer about the stuff he learns and he vows to use it for good whenever he can. Vivi approves of his plan and helps him take notes for it.

As time goes on, they all enjoy the work so much that both boys take their college classes online so they can keep working on cases. Arthur uses the money he saved from taking online classes to buy a van for the group, and paints their logo onto the side of it as a surprise for his friends. They all love it.

When Vivi and Lewis start dating the next year, all Arthur can say is “It's about time.”

Arthur is twenty when he realizes he's fallen for both his friends.

They accept all his flaws, applaud his skills, and generally make the Naga feel warm and safe and loved. But Lewis and Vivi are dating each other and humans generally don't agree with relationships involving more than two people. They've all play-flirted with each other (as close friends sometimes do), but he doesn't think either views him in that way. His heart starts to clench painfully whenever he sees the couple cuddle and kiss.

It's only made harder by the knowledge that neither are aware of what Arthur really is. Memories of how humans dislike snakes, the (false) rumors of what Nagas are really like, and the general disdain of beings that aren't human keep him silent. The only one he tells of his worry and feelings is Mystery. He doesn't even tell his uncle. He can tell the not-dog is sympathetic to him, but he can't help wishing the canine would drop his “pet” act long enough to give Arthur advice about it.

He knows they love the paranormal, but would his friends really be okay with what he was?

Arthur is twenty-one is when everything goes wrong.

His strange mix of fear and love had started to create a rift between Arthur and his friends, though only he and Mystery seem to notice.

They stop by a creepy, glowing cave that was (once-upon-a-time) a tourist attraction that Vivi heard about and go in to explore. But the next thing Arthur remembers is waking up in a hospital a week later with his arm gone, his best friend missing, his other friend unable to remember their missing member, and him suddenly suffering from an unexplainable case of cynophobia.

He hates it, the hospital is too cold and it's taking far too long for him to heal. He hates the prosthetics the doctors have shown him. They're all too clunky and awkward and why hasn't anyone used the cool tech he's seen during their cases to make something better yet? He starts making plans for a better limb, and the doctor are excited by what he shows them and say that if it works they'll help him get grants for the limbs.

Vivi's memory worries him, because it's like someone went through her head and systematically removed every memory that related to Lewis. She's mostly okay, and the memory loss doesn't seem to've changed her, but he still worries.

His fear of Mystery hurts, because the not-dog had become his confident and comfort through the years and now he had trouble just being in the same room as the canine.

But it's Lewis' disappearance that bothers him the most. He feels terrible every time the Peppers (who had become like extended family to him) would come to visit him, and wants his friend/crush to come home. And he can't go back to the cave to look for the taller boy, because he hadn't been paying attention during the drive and couldn't remember where the cave was.

By the time he's released, Arthur's plans for the prosthetic are complete, and he's sworn to find Lewis and bring him back. Even if it takes the rest of his life.