The mantis boy was smart, but you never expected him to understand the concept of a birthday.

He was so feral and untouched by society that it just seemed like something he wouldn't grasp. But no, you were wrong.

Someone must have taught him about it, maybe his sister? Or perhaps he put two and two together when he saw the festivities taking place in your home.

He was kept a secret, of course, so he just watched from outside. His spectacular eyesight came in handy as he sat in a tree, watching you from the open windows in your home. Saw how people came inside, gave you gifts, sang a song around a birthday cake before digging in. He didn't quite understand why but he knew it must have been some special occasion revolving around you.

So that night, just as you were about to go outside, you heard heavy knocks at your back door.

When you open it, you're surprised to see the 7-foot tall mantis standing there with an assortment of items in his hands.

"Oh! Hello Gyutaro, I was just about to come out to see you," you smile sweetly, happy to see him as you always are.

He pushes past you, coming into your home even though you were prepared to go out.

"Erm, we can go outside-" he cuts you off with a hiss. He's never been inside your home before, but he doesn't seem to dislike it.

Even though there are plenty of chairs around, he sits on the floor. Not giving you an option, he grabs your wrist and pulls you to the floor too.

Stumbling over yourself as he pulls you down, you land in his lap. Eliciting a happy chirp from him, his mandibles twitching curiously as he sniffs your hair. You smell different today.

"Gyu, ngh-" you groan as you struggle to get out of his grasp. He holds you on his lap like he doesn't want you to leave, but eventually he lets go.

The expression on his face is shy and timid, totally different than his usual attitude, as he hands you the assortment of items he brought with him.

"What's this?" you ask.

"F-For you... gift," he mumbles.

You gladly accept the items. A bundle of wildflowers, a few shiny stones, and some fresh fruit he must've picked from the forest.

It's a simple gift, sure. But the fact that he, a wild animal, went out of his way to do something so thoughtful means the world to you. Not only that, but in a way he was trying to understand you better. You and your human ways, which seem so foreign to him. A deadly creature that was raised in the wilderness. Some would say, a monster.

"Thank you, Gyutaro," you say with tears in your eyes, "This... this means so much to me.

He smiles, a crooked grin that rarely appeared on his face before he met you. "Happy? Good, yes?" He strings together a sentence with the few words that he knows.

"Yes, I'm very happy!" You lunge towards him and hug him tight. Trying to hold back your tears.

He doesn't understand at first, but he likes it when you're close to him like this, so it's not long before he embraces you as well.

"Me happy, you happy," he chirps, nuzzling into the crook of your neck.

Even though they were simple, these gifts from Gyutaro made your day. They mean more to you than all of the gifts you received today combined.

Your sweet monster boy made an effort to celebrate this human thing that he has no concept of. And he did it all for you on your special day. But how could he not? You are his favorite human after all.

“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.

Tonight is your first night in the field. After years of studying entomology, you were lucky enough to snag a spot on a prestigious team of entomologists. You moved your entire life here so you could have this golden opportunity. Little did you know, they only accepted you because this forest is known for its disappearances. They can’t risk losing their most valued scientists, so they prefer to send the newbies to places like these. 

Unfortunately for you, your studies require you to gather samples of nocturnal species. Which is why you currently find yourself trekking through the lush forest. With only a small flashlight and a paper map to guide you.

Every minute sound sets off your anxiety. You even get startled by the occasional cool breeze rustling the leaves of the trees that tower above you. The only thing keeping you grounded is the soothing song of crickets.

That is, until it all stops. The entire forest goes quiet as you step into a small clearing. 

“What the hell?” you say to yourself to fill the void. The undeniable feeling of being watched begins to weigh down on you. Flashing your light behind your shoulder, it reveals nothing at all. Only the empty path from where you came. “Weird…” you push yourself forward.

One step… two steps… three…

In the blink of an eye, your entire body is pinned to the ground. Your face digging into the dirt, you’re unable to see what is restricting you.

All you know is that something big is holding you down.

Rows of sharp objects dig into the skin of your back, preventing you from struggling. You try to kick your way out of its grasp but the needle-like protrusions dig deeper into your flesh with every movement.

Your screams echo through the trees, but you know that no matter how hard you scream no one will be close enough to hear you. And whatever is holding you down right now doesn’t seem bothered either.

The beast is quick with its movements. You are so used to working with carnivorous insects that you can already tell that this thing doesn’t plan on keeping you alive for long. 

Everything goes in slow motion when you feel the skin on the back of your neck tearing. You’ve got to act fast or else this is it. 

The creature can barely sink its teeth into you before you are swinging your head backwards. The back of your head smacking the creature straight on its forehead. It unlatches from you, falling backwards with a hiss.

Scrambling to your knees, you turn around to face whatever thought you’d make an easy meal.

It’s a man. No… It’s an insect.

The creature has the body and the face of a man, albeit very thin and bony. He has black hair that fades into green halfway down, partially tied up in a messy topknot. Large folded up wings lay on his back. His forearms are decorated with long, sharp spikes. His entire body is covered in ink-like black splotches. Two long antennae hang in front of his face.

The thing is sitting down, groaning with its head in its palms.

Your thoughts are spiraling. There’s no way that this is actually happening right? The sane person in you wants to run away screaming before this thing gets back up. But the entomologist in you wants to investigate further. You know you’re playing with fire, but your curiosity gets the best of you.

You take a moment to admire his appearance again. Antennae, tibial spines, large wings. This creature resembles a mantis. Ok, what do you know about mantids? They’re aggressive predators, territorial, and they’ll eat almost anything. Shit, none of that information helps you right now. It only diminishes your chances of getting out of this alive.

You took too long, and the creature has recovered from your headbutt. Staring at you with wide eyes, it slowly moves towards you. Inching ever so slowly. 

Reaching into your pocket, you grab the small jar of honey you were going to use as bait later in the night. You know that mantids only eat live prey, but this is all that you have. 

You fumble with the lid, scooting yourself backwards as the creature continues its crawl towards you. With a huff, your back hits a tree, stopping your path. You are met with glowing yellow eyes and deadly mandibles inches from your face.

Somehow, you managed to open the jar. The sweet aroma of artisan honey fills the air around you. In a desperate attempt to distract the creature, you hold the honey out to him.

“H-here. F-for you…” you stutter, voice barely above a whisper.

Guttural clicks rumble from his chest. He exhales in your face, the rich scent of blood fills your nose. Almost making you gag. You must’ve not been the first item on the menu tonight.

With curiosity, the creature sniffs the jar in your hand. He places a hand on your hip to keep you in place, as a long tongue slips out of its mouth. Its tongue is pitch black and forked at the tip. 

You feel like you can’t breathe as this thing starts to lick the honey from the jar. Seemingly satisfied by its sweetness he continues. This creature is quite literally, eating from the palm of your hand. 

It’s great that you managed to distract it, but what do you do now? It’s holding you down so you won’t be able to get away. All you can do is watch as the jar slowly empties, your fate approaching. You thought you were being smart by offering the honey, but all you managed to do is give him an appetizer.

It only takes a few minutes for the jar to be licked clean. His hungry gaze shifted back to you. He licks his mandibles as he inches his face closer to yours, tickling the top of your head with his antennae.

“P-please… I-I don’t wanna die,” you whimper. Lowering your head and squeezing your eyes shut as tears roll down your cheeks.

All you can do is wait for the pain of being ripped apart.

But it never comes. And when you open your eyes, the beast is gone.

︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚ ︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚

It took all your willpower not to brag to your colleagues about the amazing discovery you made. Yeah you almost died, but that was a small detail.

You made it safely back to camp. Everyone else was asleep when you arrived so you had all of the privacy you needed to recompose yourself.

The next afternoon you set out into the forest again. It took you longer to make it there this time because of the wounds that you were left with the previous night. Multiple punctures on your back, and a bite on your neck. You can’t complain though because you know you were lucky to come out alive.

Making it back to the familiar clearing, you unpack your bag. This time you came prepared with plenty of food to distract the mantis. Some grasshoppers you stole from your colleague, as well as some honey. There are so many questions that you want answered. You know that you are insane for wanting to get close to this thing again, but you can’t help yourself. It’s in your nature to be curious about new discoveries!

Leaning against a log, you wait for nightfall. Passing the time by taking notes in your journal. 

Day 1

I met the mantis at night. Unusual behavior for a mantis. But not completely uncommon for males. Most mantis hunt during the day time, but sometimes male mantis will hunt at night. As it is easier for them to avoid birds. However, mantis have to worry about avoiding bats at night. But the mantis man is so large that I doubt he has to worry about any predators at all. Does he choose to hunt at night to avoid humans?

Once surrounded by the darkness of the night, you begin to regret your decision to come out here. The panic that you felt the previous night begins to overcome you again. You flash your light up into the trees. No mantis to be seen. 

The senses of a mantis are very strong. His eyesight is beyond anything a mere human would ever fathom. So if he is close, he must’ve already seen you. As an ambush predator, you know that he’ll be stalking you from afar. The halt of the cricket song alerts you that he’s close. It’s said that crickets stop chirping when a predator is nearby.

“I-I know you’re there! I brought food for you,” your voice shaky, trying to sound confident but instead you just sound pathetic and weak.

No response. Just silence.

Turning on your flashlight, you check your surroundings. And when you turn around you are met with the sight of the mantis. He was sneaking up behind you, never making a sound to alert you. He got alarmingly close, so good thing you turned around when you did. Who knows what would have happened if you were a second later.

This is the first time that you are seeing the mantis at his full height. He towers over you, more than any normal human would. He must be around seven feet tall.

Yellow eyes stare widely at you, as he slowly continues to creep towards you. Continuing to stalk you even after you’ve spotted him. It’s unnerving and creepy.

“H-hello,” you try to break the tension. But your words only set him off. He opens his mouth and starts hissing at you. Unblinking eyes never diverting away from you. Every step you take back, he takes forward. You know what he’s trying to do, he’s trying to intimidate you. You are in his territory after all, so maybe he is interpreting your presence as a challenge. It’s just a speculation, but it’s all you have to go off of. So, you slowly kneel down and grab the container of grasshoppers from your bag. Making sure to never break eye contact.

When he sees the snacks you brought for him, he stops hissing. Cocking his head to the side in curiosity. 

“I brought these for you,” you shake the container, making the insects jump around, “I promise they’re tasty.”

The mantis chirps as he kneels in front of you. Snatching the container from your hands, he starts chewing on the plastic. Cracking it with his strong mandibles until it breaks, releasing the grasshoppers. They scatter quickly, jumping and leaping around the clearing. The mantis is quick to snatch them up and shove them into his mouth, leaping around like a cat until he’s caught them all. You feel bad about stealing your colleagues' grasshoppers, but this research is far more important. You took the largest specimens you could find. This is no regular mantis, it will take an incredible amount of food to satiate him enough to not consider you as a meal option for the night. But unfortunately, you don’t have access to such copious amounts of food. So you’ll just have to pray that this will be enough for now.

You study his movements. He’s fast and silent. A deadly combination.

It doesn’t take long for him to finish hunting down the snacks you provided. The loud sound of exoskeletons being crunched fills your ears as he approaches you again. The sound sends shivers down your spine.

He seems much calmer than he was earlier, looking at you expectantly. Maybe he knows that you brought more food for him? You wouldn’t be surprised if he could already smell it.

This time you came prepared with a large jar of honey and a spoon. The mantis starts chirping when you open the jar, eagerly fluttering his wings in anticipation of the sweet nectar.

Holding the jar in your lap, you use the spoon to collect the honey and bring it up to the mantis’ face. His long black tongue unfurls from his mouth, licking the spoon clean. It makes you giggle, spoon feeding a big scary creature. 

He tries to lunge forward to take the jar from you but you push him back. “No! Bad boy,” you scold.

With a growl he pushes you to the side, taking the jar for himself. “Hey!” you yelp. He holds the jar close to his body, dipping his tongue in the thick liquid only to bring it back into his mouth. He repeats this with no intention of stopping until the jar is empty.

Well, at least he’s distracted. 

“Do you have a name?”

He quirks a brow at you, licking the honey off his mandibles.

Can he not speak? He seems intelligent but if he hasn’t spent much time around humans then it makes sense that he wouldn’t know how to speak. But does he understand what you are saying?

“My name is Y/N,” your words seemingly go in one ear and out the other. “If you promise not to kill me, I’ll bring you even more honey,” that seems to have gotten his attention. He stops and stares at you with hooded eyes. Looking much more relaxed than earlier, he chirps two times before diverting his attention back to his snack.

You can only assume that he’s agreeing to your terms. Or at least, you hope he is. 

While he’s busy eating, you use this valuable time to observe his appearance and mannerisms. He allows you to get close enough to inspect the beautiful arrangements of spots that decorate his body. Getting a closer look at him, you can appreciate how beautiful he is. Maybe someday he’ll expand his wings for you to see.

Just in case things went awry, you brought a tranquilizer with you. If you are able to tranquilize him and take him back to base camp, you’d be praised by everyone. You can only imagine all of the awards and recognition you’d receive for bringing his existence to light. But watching as he eagerly slurps the honey, it’s hard not to feel sympathy for him. If you were to take him back to camp, he’d be contained and experimented on for the rest of his life. And that's not fair to anyone. Even a mantis human hybrid.

After half an hour he hands you the empty jar. His eyes look heavy and he blinks slowly. Poor thing must be tired after eating so much sugar. Without a thought, your body moves on its own. You cautiously bring your palm up to his head, and begin stroking his hair with your hand. He seems unbothered by your touch, closing his eyes and purring in response.

Aw, he’s actually kind of cute. Extremely deadly, but cute nonetheless. His antennae twitch, tickling your arm as you pet him.

He’s so vulnerable right now. This would be the perfect opportunity to tranquilize him. But instead, you vow to yourself that you will protect him. As long as you’re here you will study him in secrecy. 

His head dips for a moment before he picks it back up. He’s so sleepy that he almost fell asleep. So he decides that it is time for him to go. You watch as the mantis climbs up a large tree, making himself comfortable on a branch and laying down to rest.

︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚ ︶ ︶꒷ ₊˚

It’s shocking how well your second encounter with the mantis man went. He was aggressive at first, but when you introduced food into the equation, he became docile. It’s obvious that he is food motivated, so everytime you go out, you make sure to have some snacks on hand just in case there is a surprise encounter.

But it has been a couple days since you’ve been able to see your new friend. You aren’t worried about him, knowing full well that he’s more than capable of hunting on his own. But you do feel bad, so you bring an extra large batch of grasshoppers and beetles.

As you approach the familiar meeting spot, you hear rustling in the brush beside you. You know it isn’t the mantis because he stalks silently. 

“H-hello?” you whisper.

“Hey! You shouldn’t be here!” A female voice whispers back. The sound of twigs snapping under her feet as she approaches you.

She steps into the moonlight, her exquisite beauty revealed to you. She has blue eyes and long white hair. And she’s far too overdressed for a walk in the forest.

“This forest is dangerous. You need to leave now!” panic evident in her voice as she takes your hand in an attempt to show you the way out.

“Wait! I’m a scientist, I know what I’m doing. You on the other hand, really shouldn’t be here,” you warn, “There are dangerous animals that live here.”

She stops, raising a brow in confusion, “Could it be?... Have you met him too?”

You gulp, “The mantis…”

She nods and her eyes widen, “You’ve met my brother…”