bugging out | niko omilana
summary – you accidentally show some skin during a beta squad shoot and leave one of the boys flustered.
warnings – beta squad member!reader, partial nudity, mentions of bugs and other creepy crawlies, light swearing
word count – 1.8k
note – thank you, sweet anon, for your request. i actually already had this in the works and think it fits your idea nicely – if not, i’m happy to revisit and write a different version. anyways, this is literally the box of brain bugs challenge from their ‘last to leave the box: jungle edition’ video. enjoy (or not, i hate bugs too)
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“This is the worst idea we’ve ever had,” you groan. You tighten your goggles one more time before slipping your head into the glass box situated between Sharky and Niko.
“You’re right for once,” Niko says. He’s all set next to you, goggles on and his nose pinched closed.
“Not you violating right before we’re about to get eaten alive by bugs,” you say, your voice nasally. At least the clips are working.
“No one talk about being eaten, wallahi, I’ll break this whole set,” Chunkz says from down the line.
“Alright, bring in the bugs!’ Kenny calls out, and the challenge begins.
“I hate this,” you whine, as a bucket of dirt is poured onto your head. You try not to think about what’s hidden inside the dirt, but you feel something brush your ear and have to bite back a scream.
The boys have no such reservations.
“It’s down my shirt!” you hear Aj screech, followed by a series of incoherent screams. Next to him, Chunkz yells and somewhere beyond Sharky, you hear Kenny utter the Sign of the Cross.
The chaos around you keeps you momentarily distracted from your predicament, but another bucket is dumped onto your head and this time, the bugs find their way into your field of vision.
Oh hell no, you think as you see the grasshoppers and the cockroaches scuttle centimeters from your nose and mouth. You let out a scream, then shut your mouth for fear they’d find their way in. Some bugs have already found their way to the back of your neck and have taken to burrowing their way under your collar and down your clothes. Fuck.
Next to you, Niko is complaining about the same things. “Oh that’s where it’s long,” he says, to you or the camera you’re not sure. “They’re coming down my shirt, they’re crawling all over my ears.”
“You think that’s bad?” you grumble. “I can already feel them down my back.”
“Sounds like you’re going out first,” Niko teases.
“Nah, we both know Aj is leaving first.” The goggles and the grasshoppers clinging to the plastic make it hard to see. Despite that, you try to turn your head in the direction of the cameras, gearing up to make predictions about the challenge. “And Chunkz is next, just wait for it.”
“Oh absolutely not, mate,” Niko says in his faux Australian accent. “That’s my thing, not yours.”
“These two are doing their predictions again!” Sharky announces to the rest of the group, but no one is paying any attention. They’re all too busy fighting for their lives in their respective boxes.
“Yeah, because my predictions tend to be right!” you shout back. Big mistake, you realize as one of the insects crawls over your bottom lip. You spit, trying to get it out of your mouth.
This is truly the worst thing I’ve ever done, you think over and over as one by one, Aj, Chunkz, and Kenny give up. The minutes pass and you feel the pitter patter of legs on your back increasing.
“As I predicted, Sharky and I are at a stalemate with this schmuck.” Niko points a finger in your direction as he speaks to the camera.
“This schmuck has a name, you jokeman,” you reply, reaching out and swatting at his extended hand.
“Yeah, it’s–”
“Shush,” you cut in. You smirk at the cameras, proud of yourself for shutting up the Beta Squad’s leading waffler.
“Alright, it’s the final thirty seconds,” Aj says from beside Niko. From the corner of your eye, you can see that he’s out of his jumpsuit and completely bug-free. Lucky. “If they all manage to survive this, they all get first place.”
Finally, you think. The boys begin counting down, and no sooner do they get to zero are you yanking yourself out of the glass box and swatting at your body. You can feel the bugs crawling all over your neck, your shoulders, your arms. You shout in frustration and discomfort, unbuttoning your jumpsuit and pulling it down.
“Oh shit, they’re all over your back,” Kenny says, horrified.
“What?!” you shriek. Without thinking, you yank off your white shirt. You almost throw up at the sight of it; it’s more brown than white with the amount of insects crawling all over the fabric.
“Ew!” you exclaim, flinging your shirt away from you with one hand and swiping at your body with the other. It’s only when you’re insect-free do you realize the boys are staring at you…well, trying not to.
You look down, realizing that in your haste to rid yourselves of the bugs, you’ve left yourself in only a sports bra. Oops.
It’s not as if the boys haven’t seen you in various states of undress before. Between knowing each other for years and completing a wide range of challenges for Beta Squad content, the six of you ended up shedding clothes in each other’s vicinity more often than what’s considered appropriate. Not to mention, you’d lived with them in all three of the Beta Squad mansions.
However, as you take in the way your sports bra hugs your chest and the jumpsuit hangs low around your hips, you do understand that it must be difficult to be seen as just another one of the mandem at the moment.
“Alright, what’s the next challenge then?” Chunkz says loudly, drawing the attention of the crew and distracting them from your scandalous state.
Sharky, shirtless too and still swatting at his chest, follows Chunkz’s lead. He turns to a couple of the cameramen, gesturing for them to check if he’s got any bugs left on him. Behind you, Kenny leans down and picks up the shirt you tossed.
“Here,” he says, keeping his eyes trained on the fabric in his hands. “No more bugs, I promise. I checked.”
“Thanks, Ken,” you sigh, beyond relieved. You take the shirt, shaking it off one more time. In your peripheral, you see Aj is turned towards Niko and studiously ignoring you.
The only one who can’t seem to take his eyes off you is…Niko. You can feel his stare; it flits between your face and your chest, and back again.
That’s brazy, even as a joke, you find yourself thinking, a little put off by his audacity.
“Bro, stop staring,” you hear Aj hiss right before he smacks Niko on the arm. You glance over, meeting Niko’s gaze for a split second before he finally tears his eyes away from you.
Grateful that the boys are still gentlemen at their core, you swiftly pull your shirt back on and shimmy out of the jumpsuit. You catch sight of another insect crawling out of one of the pant legs and you shiver.
Need to get away from that.
As the production team sets up the next challenge, you sidle up to Niko.
“Looks like this one’s gonna be the tie-breaker,” you say, keeping your tone light. You’re more than a foot shorter than him and he jumps, having been oblivious to your presence.
“I’ve already won,” Niko says. He grins at you, but you can see the panic in his eyes. Like a deer in headlights, you’ve truly caught him off guard.
“Hmm,” is all you say. For a moment, you watch the rest of the Beta Squad. Sharky and Kenny are by the water, and by the looks of it, they’re debating whether there are alligators in the murky depths. Aj is chasing Chunkz around with what looks like a dried leaf on a stick. Knowing Aj and his antics, Chunkz probably thinks it’s some invasive species of beetle from Australia.
“You gonna explain yourself?” you finally say, purposefully avoiding Niko’s gaze. It’s not that difficult, since he’s beside you and above you.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Niko mumbles, too quickly.
“You looked at me.”
“Pfft, no– I– what? I don’t think–”
You turn to him then, shielding your eyes against the harsh afternoon light as you look up at him. “Come on, Niko, you were full on staring.”
“Alright, fine,” he says, looking down at you but still avoiding your eyes. You’re surprised to see that his cheeks are tinged pink.
You raise an eyebrow, waiting.
“I spaced out,” he says with a shrug.
“You spaced out?” you say slowly. “Seriously?”
Niko still can’t meet your eyes.
“Look, I don’t actually care that you looked,” you continue, annoyance creeping in. “I just want you to admit it and– I don’t know, apologize? If you don’t, I might start to think you liked what you were seeing–”
Niko grimaces and you pause.
“Oh my God.” You punch his arm. “Is that what it is? You liked it?”
Niko, normally one of the most talkative people you know, is silent. He refuses to look at you, instead choosing to keep his gaze on the production crew positioning a table and chairs several feet away.
“Aw, you have a crush on me,” you tease. You’re half joking, but Niko’s lack of denial and the blush still spreading across his cheeks slowly has you realizing that this may not be a laughing matter.
“Do you have a crush on me?” you force yourself to ask, turning towards him and raising your brows. It’s something you’ve never considered before, seeing as you’d gone through many awkward phases and suffered growing pains alongside him and the rest of the boys. And yet, Niko has always been good-looking to you and the thought of him seeing you in the same light has your heart rate picking up.
Niko finally musters up the courage to look you in the eye. His dark eyes betray nothing, but the speed at which they dart away, eager to look anywhere but you, says everything you need to know.
“Maybe?” he says and his voice pitches so high at the end that it sounds like a whine.
An actual jokeman, you think, a bit irritated with his inability to give a straight answer. You hold his gaze, your eyes narrowing. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Nikolas.”
“Okay yes, I might have a tiny bit of a crush on you,” Niko blurts out, tripping over the words. “But please, please, please don’t bring it up right now. The boys already tease me about it enough and they’ll never let me live it down if they find out you bullied me into confessing.”
“Bullied you?” you exclaim. “You’re the one who was ogling me–it couldn’t have been more flipping obvious!”
Niko puts his hands up, surrendering. “Okay, okay you’re right. You’re right and I am sorry for being disrespectful. We’ll talk about it later, please?”
He gives you a pleading look and you have to resist the urge to smack the puppy dog look off his face.
“Fine,” you relent, “but if I win this whole thing, you definitely owe me dinner.”
