#cryptid x reader

This lighthouse was old; a recently renovated historical attraction for the town, still standing erect with its old bones and reinforced (but decaying) wooden beams. It creaked and cracked and expanded, feeling like breath under your feet and from the walls.

But what had remained pristine despite the state of the rest of the lighthouse was the lantern room and the massive, rotating beacon itself. You made sure to keep your back to it at all times, but the light still burned from your peripheral and was hot against your back.

You assumed it had been the beacon that attracted him to this place. Perhaps it was an inevitable pull, some instinctual call he had to fulfill, and what led him here. Maybe he thought it could be a place of refuge, though you were uncertain where he hid during daytime hours, or if ever truly felt safe.

He had terrified you in the beginning, appearing on the gallery deck as he had. You had heard a commotion from beside you, but the beacon was spinning, so the area was submerged in darkness. Once the light came around to illuminate him, you gasped, the coffee cup slipped from your fingers, and was lost to the sea.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and covered in pale setae that resembled downy fur. It glistened in the afterthought of light, as did the pair of large opalescent wings attached to his back. Red eyes stared into you from a remarkably human-like face; they seemed to regard you with not malice, but indifference. Perhaps some curiosity?

The antennae on his head twitched as he came forward, startling you into a shriek and to flee from the gallery deck to the watch room below. You had bolted every single door and window that night, but afterwards, he continued to return to the lighthouse, and you learned to accept that he wasn't going to leave.

When it became apparent he was as benign as the creature he most imitated, you let him inside the lighthouse to see what would happen. He explored everything, left nothing untouched and (unfortunately) unturned. At one point, he tried putting your grandmother's hand-me-down curtains in his mouth, likely smelling their staleness and age, and you had to bat him away with a broom before he could put a hole in them.

And then, you stopped using distance to discourage him and put your hands on him for the first time when he had torn through a series of lighthouse blueprints (the original blueprints, at that!) that were irreplaceable. Instead of finding yourself in a fit of rage from the loss, you felt the anger melt away when your fingers splayed across his chest.

He was soft; so soft to the touch, completely solid underneath. You hadn't realized how fixated you had become on exploring his body through the setae until you felt his hands on you in return. He felt the plastic-y fabric of your clothes, then smoothed his knuckles along your skin, up the length of your arms and neck. He twisted pieces of your hair between his fingers, then lightly touched your face.

You felt the urge to experience what it would be like to kiss him, so you did. You stood on your toes and pressed your lips together. He made a noise in his throat, a moan or something like it, then kissed you back. There were thinner setae on his lips, making you think that you were making out with a flocked doll of sorts. It was not completely unpleasant.

As the fervor went higher, you thought about what it would be like to be naked underneath him, wrapped in the warmth and softness of his body. But, you settled for wrapping your arms around him to press yourself flush against his chest, reveling in what you could feel through your clothes and exposed skin.

Leaves crunch in front of you. The sound is closer than before. The ground starts to feel unsteady, with slight thumps vibrating through it.

The thumps get more prominent by the second. You are too scared to move, for fear you will give your presence away.

You stare into the darkness; as long as you keep looking towards it, it won't hurt you. But two glowing eyes appear just where the trees start to meet up.

Thump. Thump. The creature stops before you, just enough that you can distinguish its silhouette. Whatever this thing is, it's not human. It's easily double your size. It takes up the whole trail; small branches from the edge of the tree line bend and twist because of its size.

Your heart beats a mile a second in utter fear of the creature before you. Was it following you this whole time? You weren't actually crazy hearing all of those noises?

The creature's hairy arm reaches down to the flashlight, interrupting your flow of thoughts. Its palm covers the light, their fingers wrapping around the sides, nearly reaching your fingertips.

You feel their muscles flex through the flashlight; it barely stands a chance against the weight before the glass and plastic break. Various parts of it fall to the ground, leaving you in total darkness.

Suddenly, you feel the creature's hands on your arms. You pull back from them, wishing you were out of this situation. But your efforts don't even matter with their size; you are still very much within their reach.

Your adrenaline heightens, giving you the energy to run. You turn to take off away from the creature, but it's like it expected this. They step forward, thump, thump. Their arms come around you, like a terrible bear hug. They effortlessly lift you from the ground.

Screams leave your mouth, hoping to warn your friends. You kick your legs against them, but it doesn't even seem to irritate them. Their heavy footsteps make their way through the woods; they don't bother with the trail anymore.

The creature must be annoyed at your screams; it uses one arm to hold you, the other roughly covers your mouth and jaw, locking it in place. The only sounds that you can hear now are the creature's hard breathing and twigs and leaves breaking under its feet.

Seconds or minutes pass by; you can't really tell. You have no idea how far you have traveled when the creature starts tearing your clothes off you, not even letting you go.

Once your body is fully exposed to the cold air, he finally turns you to face him. You don't even understand what's happening until it's too late.

The creature shoves his penis into you, making you screech in pain. He stretches you out, causing unimaginable sensations. He doesn't care how you feel. This is about him enjoying his new prize that he caught.

He pulls himself out of you before he starts thrusting. He doesn't care about your cries and whimpers; this is all for him. His fingers grip your hips as if you could get away from him.

You know there is no chance of escape, yet you put up a fight anyway. You grab handfuls of his hair, pulling it to fight back. He either doesn't notice or care; his cock continues thrusting in and out of you, his breathing getting harder as time moves on.

"You are a really sick fuck! Let me go!" You are overwhelmed with everything: fear, uncertainty, and why this creature is so interested in you.

Deep guttural noises come from his chest as you shout for help; it scares you just enough to quiet your protests. He must be fond of your fear of him; a satisfied "hm" leaves him.

Grunts follow the "hm", the creatures thrusts get slightly more frantic. His fingers dig into your sides, digging into your sides. With one final thrust, he rests himself deep inside of you. You feel his cock throbbing inside of you, liquid pooling inside you with each throb.

The creature's breathing slows, but he doesn't let you go. He's happy to have a new toy around, something that he can enjoy in his free time.

You have been seeing this guy for a while now. He’s just… perfect. He’s kind, caring, generous, funny…. He’s just, your whole world. You’ve been dating Zen for about almost a year now and you could never ask for more.

Maybe you didn’t have a choice for more…

It was a cozy September evening, just as summer was turning into autumn. You were in your boyfriend’s house waiting for him to come home, you were going to surprise him with his favorite food since you were such a kind partner!

And of course you were hiding to really surprise him. And just like that you heard the door unclick. You got into your position as you heard Zens shoes click against the wooden floor. Then… they just stopped. You thought he may have spotted you, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Because not long after… the walking resumed but it sounded…. Sticky… that… that wasn’t right. You quickly peak out of the corner to see what he was doing. Only to be met with… “Zen…?” You gasp out in shock

What stood before you was not human. His skin began to grow grayer, his sanely blonde curls became almost as pitch black as his fingers that had spindly veins emerging from them, also charcoal black. His teeth sharpened to razor like points along with his nails. His soft brown eyes were more a piercing gold. Sticky wet tentacles sprout from his back like live snakes.

Of course you began to tremble when his head snapped around at who said his name. His expression a mixture of worry and softness as soon as he realizes who it was. “Babe-“ his voice echoed in an uncanny way. “Please wait- s- no stop panicking-“ he immediately began to try and calm you down.

You stood frozen in fear. Your only movement was of your chest taking in gusts of air to try and compose yourself.

He changed back into his human form “shit- babe… I didn’t know you were here-“ he said remorsefully as he hesitantly walked over. “Please just- stop panicking.”

Somehow you did. You just look up at him more at ease with him in his human form “what… what was that? What were you?” He frowned “I-“ he stopped himself and took a deep breath.

“The truth has to come out eventually….” He looked away in shame. “I’m a…. Well I’m an anomaly…. A monster…. Or something humans would portray as a changeling or crypid…” he tried to explain “b-but im not a monster baby! That’s what you need to understand!” You just look at him trying to take in the information… you’ve been dating this… thing for so long… you should be more scared… more trying to run away and scream for help. But… you weren’t. That was odd, you thought.

“I’ve never hurt anyone or anything baby! I just- I live amongst humans- I…. I know I should’ve told you the truth.. but I fell inlove with you as soon as I saw you… I-i couldn’t risk you… despising me- or being scared of me… the real me…” he looked at you with such guilt.

You almost felt bad for your initial reaction. “Zen… I… I don’t know how to process this… I… you- I don’t-“ he just nods slowly “I understand babe…” he takes your hand cautiously “you… you’re gonna take a while to process this… but we… we can work past this… right?”

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵

And oh yes, you both managed to work past his… quirks. So much so that when he’s home he’s never in his human form around you anymore. And that’s also developed into the bedroom as well.

Zen chuckled softly as he bound your wrists with one of his slippery tentacles “babyyyy~.” He hummed in amusement “You’re squirming all pretty for me yeah?” His echoey voice lingered in your head making you dizzy. You just nod softly looking up at him squeezing your thighs together.

Two more tentacles take ahold of both your legs, spreading them rather eagerly “Been wanting to stretch you on my monster cock for so long baby…” he growled lowly. Excitement drenching his tone. “To feel your human body react to my every beck and call…” he hissed out as he Regan to run his inhuman cock against your entrance.

It had a blunt tip whirl the shaft was gray going into charcoal black at the head. His length was also extremely textured with bumps and ridges. And not so surprisingly just as slick as his tentacles. “I’m gonna push it in now baby… just breathe… I got you…” he shuddered out as his heavy cock pushed into you.

You gasp out and squirm even more in his grasp as he slowly bullied his cock into your tight hole. “Fuuuuck baby oh god- shit, so tight for me like this-“ he grunted out trying to restrain himself. You on the other hand we’re fighting for your life. His non human cock… well it was huge. “F-fuck! Wait- it’s too big too big/“ you pant out mindlessly which was interrupted by your own loud gasp. He was all in. You felt it. You felt his cold hips pressed flush against your plump ass.

His hands dig into the fat of your hips for leverage “God- “ he seethed out clenching his eyes shut “feel like I’m gonna cum already…” he laughed with a strained tone. His spare tentacles began to tease and wrap around your soft body. You let out a tense laugh as well as you adjust to his sheer girth.

After a while of growing accustomed to his twitching cock inside out you, you smile bashfully “you can move now Zen…” you practically whisper out, but that’s all that he needed to start rutting into you like a feral animal. His cock hitting allll the right spots in you. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as you arch your back, Zens’ thrusts getting more jagged and his breaths laboured “god- fuck I’m gonna cum baby I’m gonna cum!” He almost whimpers out as his cock continuously plunged in and out of you.

Soon you feel your own climax building as one of his tentacles plays with your nipples. Another rubbing your sex. “Mh- yes baby, imma cum too-“ you practically mewl out as you squirm against him. The fat on your body jiggled with every harsh thrust he gave you, his eyes fixated on you, mesmerized by your body.

Not too soon after you felt his hot thick cum oozing into your hole, filling you to the brim. Making you gasp loudly as his name falls from your lips one last time before you burst into climax around his softening dick.

A small puff of exasperation escapes your lips as he fully turns his head away from you and your offending efforts to get him up.  Honestly there were some days where you wondered if the whole moth thing was a ruse. A long con to hide the truth that your slothly lover is secretly a lazy cat, or maybe a golden retriever would be more apt. Although the way they sigh heavily into you, full of contentment makes you think of one of those larger breeds. The type that huffs every time it has to get up or back down, padding around after you with big ol’ paws.

The mental image is enough to make you giggle, your chest rising and falling as you unsuccessfully try to stifle your laughter. The jostling earning you the scowling pouting face of your sweet Zeph.

 “Oh? So you’ve decided to join the rest of us in the land of the living.” You tease, poking at the soft squish of his cheeks as he looks on unimpressed. Although the way their arms tighten around your waist, pulling you even closer to tangle your legs betrays his true emotions.

Before they can trap you again, one of your arms snakes out of his hold falling to his soft curls. An easy smile spreads across his lips as he settles into the gentle affection. Your fingers dance across his scalp, scratching a little as you attempt to pull those satisfied churrs from his throat. The rumbling, chittering sound buzzes against your chest as you lower your lips to graze against his forehead.

 “Zephie” you whisper against their skin, meeting their eyes.

Their face pulls into a picture of disgruntlement as they recognize that tone of voice. The one that means his time with you is coming to a close, that morning is going to break and pull you away. Their arms tighten as they knock their forehead against your chin gently, looking up at you through their thick lashes.

Their arms prop themselves up to look at you. Droopy-round eyes trace all of your features, trying to commit every last bit to memory.

 “Shhhhhhhhh. Don’-” he’s interupted by a thick yawn, twisting his neck slightly to stretch out the last remants of sleep “Don’t say that”

You find yourself looking back up at the sleepy moth-human-creature-person-thing. Honestly every time you’ve tried to ask what exactly they are he manages to give you a new confusing answer that’s just as asinine as the previous one. All you can really settle on is humanly inhuman. From the way the corner of their lips extend far across their cheeks to their velvety soft dust blue skin. Skin that’s warming up into a traveling blush under your watchful eye. You could practically see the hearts dancing in his eyes after just a moment of your attention, hands moving to capture and nuzzle your wrist.

 “I’m sorry buggy” you murmur, beginning to extract yourself from their arms. “As tempting as you are, rent doesn’t pay itself” your feet touch the ground and just underneath the grass you can feel ripples. The grass itself losing its shape as your time is coming to a close, each blade of grass becoming more viscous until you swear it feels like standing at the shore with the tide lapping at your feet. You peek behind yourself, against your better judgement, and see the grumpy-fluttery flaps of an unhappy moth’s wings.

 “You could always stay,,,,, just five more minutes,,” The whine in his voice was almost convincing, but alas you had responsibilities that exist outside this grotto.

 “Still don’ get this rent thing” They squint at you, unfurling their wings to hover closer.

You still don’t understand why he bothers with the wings at all. They clearly aren’t helping with the flying, but at this point you know better than to ask.

 “No- you are not tricking me with this again.” You say sternly, turning around to face them as the trees surround you begin to fade bit by bit. “I had to use P.T.O last time! Besides we both know you don’t know or care what an economy is or money or-” You cut yourself off as you catch a glance at his blissed out, dreamy expression listening to you rant. Your eyes dart up to the trees starting to reform and the grass becoming more tangible.

 “Mmmmaybe this time I’ll get it, just run it by one more time?” He drawls hopefully, hovering just above you to lay his weight on your shoulder slightly. He settles against your back like the world’s most inconvenient, clingy blanket burying back into the crook of your neck.

The whine that escapes him after you flick their forehead almost makes you feel guilty, until you remember the 8am shift you have ahead of you. You press your lips soothingly against the spot, nudging him to capture a quick kiss. The peck apparently not long enough in his opinion from the way he chases after your lips after you break apart.

 A soft sigh leaves their chest, a sign of resignation. Still he cups your cheek gently, the tips of his claws tracing along your skin. Two pairs of dark slits sitting atop his brow and just under their eyes open, and two more pairs of eyes take you in lovingly.

 “Mornin’ bug” you mumble, leaning in to capture his lips once more.

Then you feel the familiar drop in your stomach, dizzying and disorienting. And before you know it your staring at the ceiling, the grating buzz of your alarm acting as background noise while you get your bearings. Your body aches in protest as you begin to sit up and stretch, each joint crying out as your bones snap-crackle-n’-pop.

Your fingers absentmindedly go to trace your cheek, ghosting over where their touch was just moments before. The lack of evidence of his presence was always the most jarring change. Hickies, bruises, smudged kiss marks, or anything that would remind you they were there just disappeared come morn’. The thought tinging the start of your day with a bit of sorrow, until you glance to beeping phone and see the wall of notifications from your manager asking where your are. The time sitting right above boldly stating 12:30pm.

“...........”

“That motherf-”

“What?! The mantis is your brother?!” you say in disbelief. Taking a step back to get a good look at the woman that claims to be related to the creature that almost killed you.

She sighs, “Yes, that’s my brother. How do you know of him?”

“He attacked me and tried to kill me a few nights ago.”

“Yeah, he’ll do that,” she scoffs, “I’m surprised that you’re still alive. As far as I know, I’m the only human he hasn’t tried to kill.”

As you follow her through the thicket she goes on to tell you that she comes to check on her brother every weekend. She’s a university student so she’s only available to see him once a week. He doesn’t need her to visit him, she knows that he can take care of himself. But he always gets so happy to see her.

The moment that the two of you enter the familiar clearing, the mantis jumps down from a tree, pouncing on his sister. She’s pushed to the ground with a huff, “Dammit Onii-chan, you’re gonna ruin my clothes!”

Completely ignoring her comment, he purrs and holds her close to his chest, affectionately rubbing his face in her hair. The mantis then begins to aggressively sniff through her hair and down to her face. 

“No… Don’t you dare,” she says sternly.

The mantis smirks and unfurls his long black tongue, swiping it across her cheeks, spreading his saliva all over her face.

“Stop Onii-chan, stop!” she giggles, “You’re ruining my makeup!”

This is a stark contrast from the behavior you’ve seen him exhibit when you first met him. Before this, you only saw him as a vicious predator. But seeing how affectionate and playful he is with his sister is making your heart swell up in your chest.

After a few minutes of her struggling, he finally calms down. Laying his head on her lap as she pets his wings.

“Sorry about that, he gets really excited when I come to visit,” she laughs nervously. Hoping you won’t judge her for the strange relationship she has with the mantis, “I never got to introduce myself. I’m Ume.”

You introduce yourself in return. Maybe Ume will be able to answer some of your questions about the mantis. “Does he have a name?”

“His name is Gyutaro,” looking down at her brother resting in her lap, she smiles.

“Gyutaro…” you say to yourself. An interesting name, fitting for a unique creature like him. “Does Gyutaro speak? I’ve tried to talk to him, but he only makes strange sounds.”

Ume sighs, “Yeah he can speak. Very rarely though, and he only knows a few words. Sometimes he will just repeat what you say even if he doesn’t fully understand what it means.”

“Oh… I see. Sorry I have so many questions, I’ve never seen anything like him before.”

“It’s ok. You’re the first person that I’ve been able to talk about him to, so I’m happy to share… you’re probably wondering what he is.”

You nod eagerly. She read your mind.

Ume shrugs, “Sorry to disappoint but I don’t know what he is either. Hell, I don’t even know if we are actually related.”

She goes on to explain to you how she came to know this creature as her brother. 

Ume never met her parents. Her earliest memories are from when she was a toddler, and all she remembers is living in the forest with Gyutaro. Her memories are spotty, but she vaguely remembers when Gyutaro gave her away to a human family. She only knows about this because there were newspaper articles about a little girl found on a family's doorstep in the woods. No one was ever able to figure out who she was or where she came from. But the family ended up keeping her and raising her as their own. Since they lived in the woods, she could sneak out at night to visit her brother anytime. And that’s how they maintained their strong bond.

When she tried to ask Gyutaro why he gave her away, he tried his best to explain. Ume has a difficult time understanding her brother but she interpreted it as he thought that she wasn’t fit to live in the forest. He thought she was too weak and could get hurt. So he thought it best that she be raised by other humans instead. That way, she’d be safer and in an environment she could thrive in. Ume wasn’t built for the forest like Gyutaro was. She accepted his response and never held it against him. She’s actually happy that he made that decision, because if he hadn’t who knows what kind of life she’d be living.

And that’s how she got here. She’s a young college student but she still loves her brother and makes sure to visit him every weekend. It has been hard on her though, and she wishes that she could live closer to him but that isn’t an option for her.

“I worry about him a lot… I know he’s strong enough to protect himself but what if a human finds him? What if he were to get taken away and put in a cage somewhere!” Ume wipes a tear from her eye before continuing, “That’s why I think it’d be best if I drop out so I can look after him… If something bad were to happen to him I’d never forgive myself.”

“What if I took care of him?”

“What?” she gasps, “I could never ask you to do something like that.”

“I’m an entomologist, it’s my job to study insects. So I’d be more than happy to do it! I can keep an eye on him, make sure he’s safe, and give you updates whenever you want! You can still visit too, but whenever is convenient for you. You’re so young and you deserve to live your own life… so please, let me do this for you.”

Ume stands up and runs over to you, embracing you in a tight hug, “Thank you so much. This means so much to me. You’d be the perfect person to watch over him too.”

Gyutaro slowly stands up from his spot on the ground, curiously watching you embrace his sister. He doesn’t quite understand what is going on, and usually anyone that lays a finger on Ume would be dead, but he can sense that his sister is happy.

Ume turns around to see the curiosity in her brother’s eyes, she chuckles.

“Onii-chan, I want you to be nice to Miss Y/N from now on, ok?” 

Gyutaro cocks his head to the side, wide eyes staring at you.

Ume continues, “She’s a friend. So, no killing her!”

“Fr…frie-nd?” the word travels unnaturally from his mouth. Raspy and drawn out. His voice is quite unusual, the sound of it gives you goosebumps.

“Yes! Exactly, she’s our friend,” Ume stands on her tip-toes and reaches towards her brother’s face. He leans forward into her touch. Ume tenderly holds her brother’s cheeks in her palms and kisses his forehead, “I love you brother, please be good while I’m away.”

Gyutaro chirps and rubs his face against his sister’s palm, “Love… y-ou.”

Ume thanks you again and leaves you her phone number before she departs. A huge weight was lifted off her shoulders tonight. She can rest easy knowing that someone more qualified than her will be able to give her brother a more comfortable life.

The atmosphere changes when Ume leaves. Now that she’s gone, you are completely at Gyutaro’s mercy. Will he obey his sister’s words? You hope that he will as you watch him walk towards you, antennae twitching rapidly. You stay completely still as he prods at your face with his antennae, his face mere inches away from yours. The scent of blood wafting from his mouth as he pants in your face.

With a swift movement, Gyutaro forces you to the ground, trapping your body beneath him.

“H-hey! What’re you-”

He cuts you off with a sharp hiss. Ripping the backpack off your shoulder and scurrying off of you. You watch as he tears through the thin fabric to get to the bag of snacks that you brought for him. Shoving the bugs into his mouth, effortlessly crunching them with his mandibles.

With a sigh, you walk over to him and pick up your ripped backpack.

“I guess I’ll leave you be then,” you pat his head, “Goodnight Gyutaro.”

He pays you no mind, attention focused solely on his food. That is, until he finishes and notices that you have already left.

His sister said that you are a friend, so why did you leave already? His tummy begins to rumble, hungry for more food. Gyutaro is feeling lazy tonight, and you are an easy source of food. So he decides to follow you through the forest. Silently stalking you from afar, you never notice him. He’s confused as to why you have been feeding him, but he doesn’t really care about the reason. He only cares about the source, figuring that if he follows you then he may find where you are getting such tasty snacks from.

︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚ ︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚

You thought that you’d have a peaceful night, that is, until you heard scratching at the door. 

Opening the door reveals the 7-foot-tall mantis, staring at you with a lazy expression.

“Gyutaro?!” you whisper, “You can’t be here! Why did you follow me?” you start to panic, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him inside your camper. He has to hunch over in order to fit into the small space.

Gyutaro mumbles, “Food…” looking around curiously.

Hearing his voice directed towards you makes your breath hitch. This is the first time that he’s answered one of your questions.

“You want food?” you sigh, “I don’t have any more food for you. You need to go hunting outside.”

This is a bold faced lie, and Gyutaro knows it. He can smell the insects that you are hiding. With a growl, he begins rummaging through your cabinets, finding the specimens that you have tucked away for research purposes.

“Hey! No!” you yell, and attempt to take the specimens away from him, but his grip is strong. He starts hissing and thrashing around, fluttering his wings, knocking things out of place and shaking the entire camper.

“Bad!” you take a rolled up newspaper, swatting him on the head with it.

He doesn’t let up and the struggle continues until the sound of someone knocking on your door makes both of you freeze.

Oh no, this isn’t good. One of your colleagues must’ve heard all of the commotion. “H-hold on!” You yell to the person outside the door.

You can’t risk Gyutaro being seen so you need to act fast. You still have a small jar of honey in your backpack, so you decide to use that to coax him. “Gyutaro, look here. I have some honey for you,” you whisper, holding the jar in front of him, he follows. Moving the jar down beside you, he sits on the ground next to you, licking the sweet nectar from the jar. Hoping that he’ll behave himself and stay distracted, you open the door.

You stand right in front of the doorway to block the view of your wrecked camper, and Gyutaro is just out of view. 

“Hey, everything alright? I heard some commotion,” your colleague says.

“Oh haha, yeah. Um, everything’s fine. Some of my specimens got loose, I was just trying to catch them,” laughing nervously, you pray that Gyutaro will stay distracted. Because you can only imagine what he does to humans, and it’s not something that you want to see any time soon.

“Oh, ok. Do you need any help?” he tries to look past you, leaning slightly into the doorway.

“No! I’m ok!” you move abruptly, stopping him from coming closer, but moving the jar in the process.

Gyutaro growls in annoyance and his attention is diverted to the male human getting too close for comfort. 

It’s over the moment Gyutaro makes eye contact with your colleague. In the blink of an eye you find yourself knocked to the floor, watching helplessly as Gyutaro lunges at him. Impaling him with his tibial spines, holding him down. Wasting no time as he begins to chew at the man’s neck with his mandibles, quickly decapitating him.

You’ve seen how mantids attack their prey, but seeing it done on a human is a whole different thing. It’s gory enough with bugs, but this makes your stomach churn. Enough so, that the sight and the smell of blood spewing about makes you vomit. On all fours, you barely manage to crawl out of the camper enough to vomit on the grass.

The crunching sound of Gyutaro’s mandibles tearing through the man’s flesh and cartilage momentarily stops. Your other colleague, the only other person you came on this expedition with, was coming back from gathering specimens. She drops the crickets she had collected when she lays her eyes on Gyutaro.

“Run!” you yell in a fruitless attempt to save her. The word ends up coming out as a desperate whimper, and it doesn’t even matter if she heard you or not. Because Gyutaro is quick to put her to an end as well.

You watch helplessly as Gyutaro bites through her skull, eating her alive.

After throwing up a few more times, until you’re left gasping for air with nothing left in your stomach, you crawl back into the safety of your camper.

That could’ve been me… You think to yourself, recalling the first time you met Gyutaro. 

Your body starts to tremble. Unable to watch the horrific sight outside, you lock the door and close the blinds. There are no more members left on your team, he killed the only two other entomologists that were sent here with you.

How will you explain this to your organization? You have no idea, but it's too late for them. They’re already dead, corpses half eaten. All you can do is curl up on yourself and cry. The sounds of the approaching thunderstorm drowning out the carnage taking place outside your door.

︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚ ︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚

After a couple of hours, you are awoken by scratching at your door. You try to ignore it but it gets louder, more desperate, accompanied by faint whimpers.

You open the door, standing in front of you is a soaked Gyutaro. Most of the blood from his feast has been washed away by the ongoing storm.

“You’re a very bad boy. I should leave you outside,” you cross your arms and look at him sternly. You’re very upset with him, but even though he just brutally murdered two people, you still decide to let him in. His sister did trust you to take care of him after all.

He’s shivering when he enters your camper, skin ice cold when you touch him. It reminds you that mantids are cold blooded, so it makes sense that he would be too. With a sigh, you guide him to sit on the floor, grabbing a towel to dry him off. He behaves for you as you wipe away the water droplets from his skin and ruffle his hair until it’s fluffy.

Gyutaro doesn’t understand that what he did was wrong, and he doesn’t realize that you are upset with him. You try not to be because you understand that it's in his nature to kill, but you can’t help but feel angry with him.

His pants are still wet even after you try your best to dry them. Though you don’t feel like trying to undress him as he’ll probably give you a difficult time. Whatever, it’s fine. You crawl into your small bed, and watch him as he remains sitting on the floor. Licking his tibial spines in a cat like manner. He uses his long tongue to clean himself, the sound of his slurping is loud as he licks all over his arms, hands, and even his feet. You’d be lying if you said it wasn’t kind of cute…

Watching him clean himself is strangely soothing. You decide to take some notes in your journal, while the sounds of thunder echo in the distance.

Day 2

I searched for the mantis man, and came across his sister. She is unlike him, seeming pure human. Who knows if or how they are siblings. But the mantis man, who I learned is named Gyutaro, has a strong emotional bond with his sister, Ume. He shows his human side when it comes to his sister. Maybe he is more human than I thought?

She entrusted me with his care, and he followed me to camp. Killing and devouring all of my colleagues. His bloodlust is too strong. He has no reason. I need to be careful with him in the future. 

I took him into my trailer for the night, until the storm passes. He lays here licking himself like a cat. How peculiar. I will figure out what to do with him in the morning.

The feeling of something crawling into bed with you disturbs your note taking. Your bed is a twin size, far too small to fit you and a large man at the same time. You’re squished against the wall as Gyutaro crawls underneath the blankets, pressing his body against you for warmth.

“What’re you doing?” you whine, lifting up the blanket to see Gyutaro’s face snuggled against your chest.

With an annoyed expression he looks up at you, “Warm…”

You sigh and bring the blanket back over his head. He’s still shivering and you are the only source of warmth for this cold blooded creature. That’s how you rationalize letting him stay in bed with you. 

Bringing your hand up to his head, he lets you pet him. Purring and leaning into your touch. How can a man-eating mantis hybrid be so sweet and adorable? 

“Goodnight, Gyutaro,” you say, eyelids getting heavy.

He chirps softly in response, letting you know that he’s just as sleepy as you are.

Gyutaro warms up quickly from your body heat. This is the most comfortable he’s been in a very long time. A big meal and a warm place to sleep. What else could he ask for?

Maybe sparing you was a good idea after all. He might just decide to stick by your side for a bit longer.