Arthur isn't one to hold grudges.

Then again, that was when he was in a pack, where holding grudges was detrimental to your odds of survival. He is now in a cell, cement walls too tall and too steep for him to slither out of, and that Researcher is staring at him again.

A week had passed since he was brought in, after a horribly degrading test of sorts to see if he was healthy, which involved Researcher to stick his hands in his mouth and check his scales and his… slit. He still didn't get why they assumed he was ill if he was so far away from his pack, but he had stopped questioning human's level of intelligence. That was one of the most humiliating moments in his life, and as such, every time he saw the Researcher, he could not quell the feelings of rage he felt and aimed at the human.

It didn't help that the bumbling fool had proclaimed that he was his 'personal researcher' and that he was meant to observe him daily.

Arthur growled and slithered off one of the few rocks that sat in the sunlight with little to no obstructions in the way. He preferred his solitude over his warmth. The Researcher looked down at the odd contraption in his hands and tapped at it very quickly, and Arthur growled again. Humans and their technology, drag them away from its wonders and they start crying like a new born forced away from their favorite pebble.

It was near the end of his first week there when he was given a reason to act out on his grudge. Researcher, and many of the other humans that worked there, had assumed that all Nagas were as dumb as squirrels. They assumed that they could not experience complex thoughts that weren't instinctually based, they assumed that Nagas were dumb and dull and couldn't process what they did during their examinations. Arthur seethed and felt his tail lash at the thought, knowing that, if the Researcher knew that he had felt so much embarrassment after realizing his emotions and body had been manipulated to such an extent to stimulate the response in a mating season, the boy would gag and rush off to the bathroom and actually use his brain for once.

So he planned, and he used the brain the Researcher assumed he did not have.

The cell had varying amounts of plant life in it, presumably to emulate the forest he had called home, and he collected and horded. He made a little 'nest' under the tree and found a suitable rock to crush the leaves he had taken into a dust-like mixture. He made sure the human couldn't see what he was doing, but he could see the human raising his brows and glancing at the black rectangle in his hands and then back to him.

He had overheard some researchers talking about what they do when a Naga goes into their mating cycle. One of them replied that they take them out of their cell and only tie down their wrists, but they don't drug them in case it messes with their immune system.

So Arthur pretended and hoped that Researcher was dumb enough to fall for his lies. The paste he had made was more than ready, and it was rather easy to hide the tightly wrapped pouch in his slit. It wasn't safe, but it wouldn't have any negative effects on him—no. This was solely for Researcher, solely to make him realize his own folly and for him to regret what he'd done.

The next day, he amps it up the act a bit. He starts panting, his tail twitching and writhing like a birther, and going so far as to trick his body into producing pheromones. That might've be too much, that might tip off that the whole thing is an act but he has to try, he has to-

And then Researcher is there, and Arthur can't be bothered to growl because thank the high ones, it worked. He's put on a table—not the cold, unforgiving one from the examination, but one with cloth and has little bumps that sooth his bothered body—and pulled out of the cell. He keeps up the act, keeps panting and occasionally twitching his tail fitfully, but he can see the somewhat neutral expression on Researcher's face and he feels that rage climb up his stomach and into his chest, and he has to bite his tongue to hold back the growl. Does he not care in the slightest? If he was a real birther, in the middle of a mating season, would he really be acting with this level of indifference?

Before he could continue the line of thought, he's brought into the examination room. He looked around, bemused, thinking that he was supposed to go into a different room for this. Seeing how Researcher moved away after locking the table in place, Arthur shrugs and moves to his slit to remove the leaf wrap he had stored there.

"Ah-no, sorry bud. 'fraid you can't do that." Researcher pulls Arthur's arm away and wraps the leather cuff around his wrist, but Arthur jerks away and lets out the growl that's been bubbling in his chest since day one. Researcher has the gall to seem scared before Arthur launches himself off the table, wrapping his tail around the human's legs. Letting out a violent hiss, Arthur takes off his cuff and then takes Researcher's hand and returns the favor, pinning the human's arms behind him and tying him up.

"What—no, get off, right now. You are in heat, you aren't thinking-" Arthur ignored him and reached for his slit again, taking out the leaf wrap. "No! Dammit, I am not another Naga, I am not compatible with you! Get off of-"

Arthur snarled and shoved the paste in his mouth, leaves still wrapped around in. Researcher made the motion to spit it out, but Arthur covered his mouth and pinched his nose, forcing him to swallow it unless he wanted to choke. He sees Researcher swallow and struggle in earnest for air, so Arthur backs off and untangles his tail from the human's legs. He's coughing on the ground, curling into a protective ball, and Arthur makes soothing noises; little hisses and slow motions, rubbing at the man's back as the magic takes affect and runs through his system.

Yes, he was a 'dumb Naga,' but Nagas knew much more about the magical properties of plants and what a mixture could do if eaten by a human. It was magic, something regarded as myth by humans, but it would be more than enough for Arthur to enact his revenge.

Researcher finally uncurled after ten agonizing minutes where Arthur had to act like a mother to the boy. His mind was blissfully blank, memories and thoughts scattered and blurry, as if he were trying to grab a fish in a pond. Arthur smiled and hissed, whispering tales of the forests and his pack, and all of the things he would show Researcher if he could just go outside, their bodies gliding through the forests like water.

And suddenly to Researcher, the idea seems great! Get him and Arthur out of here and into the forest where they can be free and live happily, he doesn't even consider that he has a job here, or that it's his duty to watch over Alfred and make sure the Naga doesn't escape.

But that's lost in the haze of the magic, and Arthur knows that the seed of escape has been successfully planted in Researcher's mind.