I've just come to the realisation that at the beginning of Vore (first fifteen seconds), along with the scratchy guitar chord, there are chewing and swallowing sounds. The song is quite literally from the point of view of being stuck in the throat of a God.

Ch. 70 // What do you live for? // Day xxx

Contents (Warnings): A prisoner of the Family (Angst, very light blood, slight hard vore mention, character and monster info as always). Read full chapter on - A03

Wordcount: 3,400+

Song I listened to on repeat for this chapter: Wander. Wonder. - The Arcadian Wild

Side note: This will contain experimental writing; first person (Lynette's view) will be implemented alongside third person for the two other essential characters, (mostly) Alexander and (occasionally) Drake. All their text will be italicized for those third-person moments, with the characters' names in Bold at the start and their thoughts in Bold. There may be other characters I write for using this.

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Claudia

What is this? 

The heavy beats of her heart carried her weight forward. And the new feeling erupted from her mouth in a crackling shout.

"LET HIM GOOO!" 

 Her voice had never screamed, her body never hurt so strongly without a wound, nor had her eyes ever poured with liquid.

One of Urtsi's "wings" spiraled out, her fingers stretched to grab Hendra's face. 

The smoldering at her palms spread-out fingers clutched around Hendra. It set her fur ablaze for only a moment. 

Her eyes deeply bore into Hendra, so much so that she missed the figure that moved in. 

Their jaw cracked down, slicing through her "wings" wrist. Urtsi's eyes released Hendra. I can't feel my arm. 

She yanked it back; the figure came with it. Its color slowly shifted from clay to a weaker gray. It was no longer vibrant with magic.

Urtsi couldn't retract it fast enough or lift her others to combat the individual. He tore into her arms "meat" again. 

When he was close enough, he struck her head with his body and knocked her off her feet. 

She slammed into the cold ground. Her hands couldn't catch herself. A gasp left her slightly raised mask.

Kalin pressed on the face plate. He continued to chew up the bites of her arms in his mouth, then swallowed.

She lifted her hands with magic in them to get him away. 

"URTSI." She stopped, and the screams for violence now hummed with fear. The torn arm started to throb when the rush left. 

"Stay still, Uri," Kalin said as his mouth opened wide. He went for her neck.

"Kalin," Hendra's voice silkenly rubbed over the mark at his neck. He stopped near Uri's throat. 

Hendra laughed, "I'm sure she didn't understand what she was doing..." Hendra's fur didn't heal back, though Urtsi's touch was for a few seconds. Its burn was clear across her and near her eyelids. 

She bowed her head, and it twisted forward, showing the burnt hair and some flesh over her face. "Besides, you still have uses for us, don't you, Urtsi?" 

The name constricted her core and relaxed the rest of her body. Kalin regardless, kept her in the position on the ground.

"She attacked you," Kalin growled. "If anything, you should fight and kill her with these other Fae. Or allow Mitz to do it?"

Hendra denied him with a shake of her head, "We've only helped increase her rarity on our team. Our clients and we need the kinds of brews she creates." '

Hendra pulled her head back up, "However, as you were very quick to react, I'll allow you to finish the rest of the arm that disobeyed me." 

N-no. Urtsi's voice whimpered in her mind; she still couldn't move. She couldn't move until the person who called her name either released her or left her vicinity.  

Urtsi felt him yank at the tattered wing in her back. Slowly removing it from her body. She used creation magic, a variation known as replication, to make the limbs stretch to outlandish lengths. Without it, it could easily be torn away. 

It was a useless attempt for her to retract it. Hendra made her still, so she lost another wing.

...

Why did I do that?

That question plagued her mind, accompanied by the lead in her chest. It had been three days, and the feeling still sat inside her. 

She moved her two regular hands and legs bound by chains. She didn't move them often due to their heavy weight. 

She sat in a cage at the center of the "interrogation" room. Or more so, Mit'z personal fungeon. 

The only ones unchained were the two at her back; they reached out to the cage bars.

Once the fingers of her wings brushed the bars, they were broken by the "wardens" magic. Urtsi pulled them back in shallow pain and healed them. 

"Why do you keep trying that in front of me?" Anubis questioned with a sigh. "There's no point." 

He had been assigned to watch her for two reasons, one, he did not need sleep; Anubis meditated like Urtsi, and two, if she acted viciously once more, he'd have the easiest time killing her. 

Urtsi remained quiet. For some reason, Urtsi held her tongue. She refused to say a word to any of them, no matter how much they pried. Mitz had already pushed and threatened her to no avail. 

And her teeth clamped together whenever Hendra was mentioned or when her mind lingered over Theieo. The image of him stayed in her mind, motionless in the back of her thoughts like his body. 

She never knew a fae's eyes lost their color when they died, and she didn't expect their already gray color to get fainter too. 

He wasn't supposed to die like that. Urtsi's chest clenched. For some reason, that thought didn't settle right in her, either. 

Anubis's sound reached out from beyond the bars, "Your actions don't make much sense. Why did you defend them after they were killed?"

Urtsi didn't know. She didn't feel like this when she saw the others.

"Or was it for the one that Hendra was over?"

Urtsi's head tilted up. Does he know what this is?

Anubis's canary hue rolled, "why did you leave if you cared for them?"

And finally, a word left her lips, "I'm a Suntouched Fae. We're bad omens for any coven, said to lead them to their destruction as being alive goes against Esidos." 

"It goes against an entity you followed?"

"Yes." Urtsi replied, "And the coven leaders decided to bury me," she had disobeyed. "I'm only here because an Escora saved me from dying." Urtsi searched for an answer, "the Escora told me to live."

He repeated his question, "Why didn't you care when they all got slaughtered? Why after?"

"I'm not a caretaker; they care for Fae children."

Anubis leaned in from his chair, "You clearly had some type of feeling."

"I felt my chest hurt, my eyes started to water, and I-I don't know what this is," Urtsi confessed. She felt it rise. 

Anubis raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know why I did what I did. I never felt like this before!" Her noise rumbled out in frustration. 

He didn't reply right away. It took a few moments, "Love. You loved them." 

Urtsi wasn't given the chance to ask what it was or deny it. 

"Do you want to die?"

"No," Urtsi remembered the desperate struggles inside the dirt prison. 

"Why do you deserve to live after everything you've done? What do you live for?" 

"Live for?" Urtsi didn't understand him. "I-I don't know."

He scoffed, "Why do you wish to live if you have nothing to live for?" 

Urtsi didn't know what to say.

"That Escora told you to live, so find that reason," Anubis told her. 

...

Urtsi had thought for weeks. To be useful. She didn't understand his question. There was a process; she'd learn, grow, contribute to the coven, and one day be buried in the red soil so that her body could be reused and hopefully pass on what she had learned. She obtained a few memories from her mother and the ease of using magic. 

Now that would never happen. Urtsi's coven was gone. And even before that, why was she so defiant? Why do I want to live? The question frustrated her. 

She had very few conversations between Mitz and Anubis. Mitz was in the corner, carving into the ticking crest as a follower of the family. 

The noises of the monsters they brought in sounded more prominent. Urtsi never noticed that or their own begging to live. She lurched at every sound.

Her eyes focused on the Anubis; he half paid attention to Urtsi, and the other half went to Mitz. 

"Why do you live?"

Though she could only look upon his profile, the smirk and flutter of his yellow hue told her of his excitement. "As of now?" His smile held a sick sinisterness as if he could vividly imagine a twisted dream. "I'd love nothing more than to kill, Mitz." 

Urtsi traced the laughing girl. She asked Anubis, "Why don't you do that then?"

"I'm a Jinn, Uri. We are forcefully bound to those that find our item and have no choice but to grant them their wishes." He snickered, "I can also say no to them, but I have to comply with at least five years." He pressed the few straggling orange bangs back. "However, if she gets injured, I do too. So, if I were to kill her while we were still bound. I will soon follow suit." He turned to Urtsi. "Fun, isn't it."

"If you killed her, then you'd achieve your wish. So you want to live too?" Urtsi went forward to grab the bars, not out of the will to escape but an answer. She needed one. "Why do you live?"

His face went blank, and he closed his eyes; a single, soft breath pushed past his lips. His eyes flicked open, and he looked toward Mitz once more. "Our reasons will be very different. I'm not helping you." 

Urtsi's two wings pulled from the bars, and it wasn't until later that night, while she meditated, that Anubis didn't strike her hands as he did so many times before. 

...

After a full year of confinement, the noises started. Fewer and fewer individuals were sent to Mitz. She began to get bored and poked at Urtsi, messing with her body as she was stuck inside the cage. 

"Stupid war," Mitz grunted. "Why does Mama even want to get involved." 

Urtsi refused to say anything to Mitz, as when she spoke, it excited her, and any other noises only made Mitz get sharper objects to stab her with. 

"I don't think Hendra wants you to damage her property," Anubis said, carrying a plain expression. 

The lass with wild, unkempt strawberry blonde hair burst into laughter. She threw the large spike ball scepter over her shoulder. 

"Seriously! I get it," she waved her hand with the ring around and approached him. She stopped in front of him and lifted her hand to his face. "You feel for these things; they aren't with our family. She tried to kill Hendra!" She swung the scepter into the cage. 

BANG.

Urtsi jumped at the noise and the vibrations it spurred inside it. Mitz directed her grin to Urtsi, "You're just a little stupid fae, right?" Her squeaking chuckle echoed inside the quiet room. "You decided your own kind, which you," she banged the scepter again into the bars, "abandoned, were more important than your position with Mama." Her smile dropped, "you had everything, freedom, food, and A PERFECT position with ME." She continued to slam it again and again into the bars. "WE WERE A TEAM. YOU WERE SO OBEDIENT. YOU NEVER QUESTIONED ANYTHING. YOU WERE SO" BANG, "SO," BANG, "SO," BANG, "SO," BANG, "SO PERFECT." Her hair had fallen over her face. She snapped her head up and pushed the scepter forward, twisting her grip on the handle. It would cause the ball at the end to expand out, as well as the spikes. 

It would have stabbed Urtsi if Anubis hadn't grabbed Mitz's arm and yanked it back. It caused the ball to return and her to let go and throw herself back before a few spikes entered her. 

She faced him with wide eyes at first, soon replaced by a smoldering anger. 

"YOU could have killed me."

Anubis shook his head, "what did I say, Mitz. Hendra wants-."

Mitz grabbed the front of his jacket and forced him to be face-to-face with her. She lurched forward and opened her mouth by his lips. He turned his head last second, and Mitz snapped into the corner near his left side. She bit hard into his cheek and tore the flesh. He whined out and pulled away from her, holding that side. 

She spat it onto the floor and laughed, "Any damage done by an owner stays, right AUH-NUU-BUS.~." 

... 

It had been a week since she saw Anubis and or Mitz. The decayed part of his flesh remained on the floor, causing a distinct disgusting odor since it sat beside her cage. 

The scuff marks of the spikes etched into the metal bottom. A reminder that he stopped Mitz. Mitz was his owner. 

Her knees pressed into her chest, leaving her alone now. Urtsi lacked the food to do much other than sit dormant. And whether it be because she was a Suntouched Fae or due to the lack of food she received, her height hadn't increased much as she was now approximately the age of 18. Fae aged rapidly; every year passed was like 3 years to her until they reached maturity at 24. Then they were basically immortal. 

 Light pittered inside the dark room, slowly blinding Urtsi as the door that had remained shut for many days finally opened. 

"Hello, Urtsi~." Hendra ignored the smell.

Her ears caught it, so her body fell limp. She had yet to see Hendra since the event. The face Urtsi burned still instilled the same effect, the same feelings, the need to kill her. 

"I'm sure you've had a lot of time to calm down," the chimera, with a mix of monster parts, clopped over and unlocked the cage. 

Her long neck twisted to Urtsi, "You've been good lately. Though you are looking very thin." Hendra chortled, "How about we change that with a new task I have for you." 

Urtsi scanned Hendra, unable to do anything as the giant clawed hand touched under her chin, bringing it up. 

"I need you to protect this building." It rubbed dangerously at the softer part of her neck. "You don't need to sleep, and as long as we keep you fed, it'll be fine, will it not?"

A defiant no tried to crackle from the slit of her mouth, yet it never left her. If Hendra wanted it, she would have it, or Urtsi would die here. Possibly a part for Hendra or sold as materials to other parties like the rest they salvaged. 

Maybe I should d- Urtsi's thoughts were interrupted by the deafening word. 

Her eyes, hidden behind the plate, closed, "yes, mama."

After Ursti was pressured to put a barrier over the building in case the war swayed toward them. It cost Urtsi nearly all her concentration. And the small part that remained let her whine over her exasperation. 

"What does it mean. What am I supposed to live for-why? Why did you tell me to live? What kind of request is that!"

Urtsi yelled out in the darkness, rustling in her chains as she slammed her bound hands into the floor. What am I supposed to live for!

...

The two years passed; it felt like centuries. Rarely did anyone visit her besides to leave off food. Out of desperation, Urtsi tried and tried to strike up a conversation. Mostly ignored or told off. She liked it when they yelled at her; at least, that meant she could talk with them further. 

And after all this time, she had seen Anubis again. She didn't know whether to be filled with excitement or worry. 

"Anubis!" She exclaimed, mostly from familiarity. 

"I'm not supposed to be here, quiet," Anubis said as the lanterns around her lit. Her form was a mess, all besides the hands at her back, which were active. The others chained were not. 

Her eyes fell on the multitude of critters in his hands. "What are those for? Food?"

Anubis didn't respond. He stared, transfixed on her, with dissatisfaction in his eyes. Or...pity?

"ANU-"

He jumped out of it, "shh, stop." He took a deep breath and put the squirmy things near the cage. "Friends, not food." 

"Friends?"

"I can tell by your enthusiasm upon seeing me that you've been missing me, so I brought you these. Play with them, and don't worry about feeding them. They only need to eat every ten years or so." He glanced away and muttered, "I think."

"So, no eating them?" She picked up one of the tiny slimy, snappy, small, false drakin snappers, "they look tasty." It then tried to chomp at her finger. "Funny." 

She was used to talking more. 

Anubis pressed at the cage; it glowed momentarily, and the critters that tried to escape at the bottom were met with a barrier. 

"They'll keep you company until you have to deal with me again."

Urtsi dropped the one she held immediately and leaped to her feet. She stumbled as she went forward. The barrier was easier to handle as she had done it for so long, so she could move. 

"Wait-uh-hold on-"

He held up his hand, unable to see the desperation on her face because of its plate. "I'll see you when it's over." 

Her eyes focused on the scar, knowing the flesh had long gone, dissolved into the floor, staining it. She looked back at the critters on the floor, scrambling about with their tiny legs, clearly made for water but new to land. Though she felt a pain welling up. She nodded. 

After he left, she got back down, picking up the wiggling critters. 

"Hi," she said, petting its head. Through tiny droplets from her eyes, she uttered, "thank you." 

...

It had been three more years, and the racket had long stopped. Anubis had joined her below. His first day back, and because of the strain of something that happened above, he had to help her with the barrier. 

Urtsi lifted up one of the critters in the pile at her legs. "I gave them names a long time ago. Did you want to hear them?" 

It sounded like even if he said no, she'd tell him. 

"If you hadn't after a few years, I'd think you'd be a lost cause." 

Urtsi agreed, "Some were hard based on their personality." She pointed to the one with the dot on its head. "Dot." Because of the dot." She poked her finger at it to emphasize it. 

"Ah, yes, a personality," Anubis said a slight smirk.

Urtsi stared at it. It didn't feel like his usual look. For some reason, she felt warm looking at it. 

"Is that it?" He asked. 

She shook out of it. "No, no. Hmm..." She tried to look for one of her favorites. "Oh!" She picked up another squirmy one and held it up to her head. "This one I found out is blind, and he has a stripe over his face, a mask like me, so I named him Little Uri."

 Anubis pursed his lips at first, then a soft noise left them. "Little Uri."

She eagerly went down, putting down little Uri, "Wait, this one is good too." The feeling in her chest got warmer, hearing him. She whipped around and found the straggler hiding behind her. "Here!"

It let out a little squeak as she showed her absolute favorite, "This one is Anubie because look-" She crawled forward and put it by the bars for him to see. He crouched down from his standing position. "It has yellow eyes like you, and he's the most snappy." 

Urtsi watched his face perk up.

She heard plenty of laughter, chuckles, and saw those around her smirk in the family. But this felt different. 

"Snappy, huh? I think Mitz is inclined to agree." The way he smiled brought Urtsi back. 

It unlocked a memory she forgot she had. From afar, the maskless fae children laughed and smiled. Urtsi replicated it occasionally, and she never understood why they enjoyed it. She did it out of reflex to mimic others. Until now, when she realized she had done it unconsciously.

There was a shine behind her visor that he would never see. 

"That's it!" 

Anubis's shoulders flinched from her yell so close to him. He tried to calm her, yet she spoke over him.

"I want that! That's what I want to live for!" She pressed the false snap drakin to her chest, "I want to see and feel this more! It's like something hot is in my chest, like-like-like-" she couldn't find the words. "I know; this is what I want."

Her voice trembled with this giddiness, "I got it, ANUBIS!" 

His hue intensely studied her, "took you long enough." There looked to be more that he wanted to say, but instead, he kept it to himself. And it made the excited Urtsi continuously pester him to tell her. 

...

Hey, you, thank you so much for reading. It means a lot that I put out a story that people can enjoy! So, I hope you continue to enjoy it as WE have a LOT more to go! YOU BETTER KEEP PROSPERING! (Nonnegotiable).

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What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List)

The Half-Blood Giant (48/51)

***Contains soft nonfatal unwilling vore***

Chapter 48: A Belly Full of Humans

Hunter’s next destination was the boarding school. He knew there was considerable risk in returning, since everyone knew him and the cameras would record him, but in his arrogance he believed that nobody could stop him. He was able to escape jail easily enough, after all. He considered shrinking to sneak inside, but found he couldn’t cast two different complicated blood spells simultaneously. If he shrank, he would end up digesting the woman inside him, and for now he wanted to keep her alive. 

On his way there, he was surprised to pick up Principal Henderson’s scent. As he sniffed further, he detected the sweet scent of a human female, similar to vanilla, intermingled with the giant’s scent. The principal had a human? Hunter’s curiosity was piqued. His nose guided him to a house not far from the school that was saturated with the principal’s scent. The gentle giant didn’t appear to be home, but the human’s tempting aroma was fresh and active. She was inside the house. 

Hunter circled the house, searching for a way inside. The windows and doors were all closed and locked, without any obvious weak spots. Hunter glanced around to make sure nobody was nearby before smashing in one of the windows with a large rock. He shoved his huge body through the windowsill, careful to avoid shards of glass, and slithered inside like a big fat boa constrictor. 

Hunter stood up and surveyed the inside of the house. He was in a dining room with a sturdy wooden table. He could see into the living room and kitchen, where there were the obvious signs of human accommodation: ropes and ladders for access, and mini human furnishings for practicality and comfort. He inhaled deeply through his nose and prowled quietly through the house. He felt strange, being in the private living quarters of his school principal. The house was neat and tidy, with a muted color palate of calm, darker colors. 

He padded into the master bedroom. The curtains were drawn to block the morning sun, so the room was shrouded in shade. Hunter could almost believe the room was empty, if not for the tiniest bump on the massive bed. Hunter crept closer to behold a diminutive woman, nestled on a giant pillow with the bedsheets pulled up to her chin. The sheets were tucked around her, as if gentle hands had wrapped her in them. Hunter could see Principal Henderson in his mind’s eye, leaning over her before leaving for work and giving her a soft kiss goodbye. She was settled into serene slumber, all cozy in the gigantic bed. 

Hunter felt strange as he watched her sleep, imagining the principal coddling his tiny lover. A trickle of regret, of doubt, wormed its way into his heart. What was he doing, breaking into Principal Henderson’s house like a burglar to steal away his feeble human companion? The principal had only treated Hunter with kindness and understanding. This woman was innocent and small. Hunter wanted to make the giant police officers suffer, but he didn’t wish any ill will on the principal. 

Yet, as he looked at her little face, peaceful and carefree, he was overwhelmed with bitterness. He wanted that life with Hannah—to hold her, love her, cuddle up in bed with her—and he couldn’t have it. Life had cursed him to be miserable. He couldn’t be normal and happy like everybody else. He was a freak: half-giant, half-human, belonging nowhere. He would never have a place to truly call home; nobody would ever love him like that. 

Rage, hatred, and misery boiled over inside him, drowning out any sympathy he might have felt for the tiny woman. Life was so unfair. Why did everything have to be so unfair? She didn’t deserve to be happy, if he couldn’t be happy. He projected his unbridled wrath onto her as he seethed over his innumerable woes. With a murderous scowl, he reached his hand towards her, his fingers curving with tension. 

Millie opened her eyes sleepily, sensing something was off. She glanced up to behold a giant hand hovering over her, dwarfing her, ready to close around her. She yelped and leapt to her feet, stumbling back in shock. “W-who are you? What are you doing here?” 

Hunter didn’t say anything, instead leering down at her. Millie’s legs bent underneath her like flimsy rubber bands, unable to hold her weight. Her nerves screamed at her to run, but she wasn’t coordinated enough, since she was shaking so badly. Hunter climbed up on the bed, looming over her threateningly with his gigantic body. He planted his palms down on either side of her, his substantial weight sinking into the bed. 

Millie panicked. She tried to retain her wits, but couldn’t with the menace bleeding off the giant stranger that had invaded her home. She crumbled into a ball and cried as traumatic memories of a hostile, sadistic giant brutalizing her and devouring her assaulted her brain. She had always been helpless and unable to escape, no matter how hard she tried, and she knew this situation was no different. The flashbacks overwhelmed her until she could no longer focus on the present danger. 

Hunter was confused as he watched her meltdown. He thought she would try to run, or plead for her life, but instead she curled up in a fetal position and sobbed loudly. He wrapped his fingers around the tiny human, lifting her closer to his face to examine her. She didn’t seem to be aware of his touch. He didn’t understand, but her scent was too tasty to resist. He gently lapped her up into his mouth. 

As her aroma suggested, she had a lovely vanilla flavor, like ice cream. Hunter indulged in her sumptuous sweetness, rolling her around on his tongue and stuffing her in his cheeks. Initially, she stayed coiled up in a ball, but as she became saturated with spit and smothered by the heat of hot internal flesh, she unfurled her limbs and started thrashing. Millie realized the physical sensations around her were real, not the images in her nightmares, and a fresh wave of alarm consumed her. She opened her eyes to behold red walls of flesh and gigantic rows of white teeth enclosing her on all sides—a ghastly sight. 

She was going to die. She realized the truth with horror. She hadn’t taken a pill. She would be digested in his stomach if he swallowed her. At one time, when Millie had been a tortured captive, she would have welcomed death, but not now. She had a life to live. She had a wonderful man who treated her with love and respect, like she was special and precious, even though he was a giant and she was nothing more than a little human. Her life had radically changed for the better. She couldn’t die now, not like this! 

However, she was helpless to resist as she slid down the slippery slope of the tongue, her body entering the giant’s throat. She clawed at the slimy surface, trying to find purchase for her fingers on the bumps of the taste buds, but everything was slick with saliva. The fleshy tunnel closed around her and suctioned her down. She reacted violently to the pressure as fear exploded inside her. She was losing herself again as she drowned in panic. She was falling. 

She blacked out for a minute. The next thing she became aware of was a voice, not the thunderous voice of the terrifying giant who ate her but a feminine voice, one that she found familiar and comforting. “Millie! Millie! Snap out of it!” A pair of arms were wrapped around her. 

“E-Eren?” Millie stammered. She couldn’t see anything in the black gurgling cave of the stomach. Her heart was palpitating fast enough to make her lightheaded. “No, it can’t be... he ate you too?” 

“Yes, it’s me,” Eren confirmed. “Millie, are you okay?” 

“No, not at all,” Millie choked. “We’re gonna die!” She started to hyperventilate, splashing around uselessly in the acid. 

“Millie, calm down. I don’t know how, but I’ve been in here a while and I haven’t been digested. We might... survive this.” She gulped. Living was important, but she didn’t know what the nefarious giant had planned for them. She was scared, yet she needed to be strong for Millie, who was more fragile. Eren and Millie had both suffered as prisoners in the hands of evil giants, but Millie’s captivity had lasted far longer.  

Millie realized that the acid didn’t sting, but this revelation wasn’t exactly comforting. “Oh no... it’s happening again...” she whimpered. “We’re going to be tortured and used as objects of pleasure... Eren, I can’t go through this again, I really can’t... I’m not strong enough...” She shuddered hard, shrieking as the stomach growled noisily, as if dissatisfied that it couldn’t break down the morsels within. Eren held Millie in a loving hug as they churned and rocked in their gastric confinement. 

On the outside, Hunter continued on his path towards the school. His belly felt so good, so full, with two humans trapped inside. Even so, there was one more human on his list that he couldn’t wait to scarf down. He walked through the gate, staring straight into the camera as he did so. He didn’t need to hide his face. He didn’t fear any consequences if he couldn’t be contained in a jail cell, or could make himself small enough to slide out of handcuffs, or could shrink any giant who dared cross him. In this realm, nobody was even aware of the existence of magic. He had a ridiculous advantage. 

He moved briskly, using his nose to avoid anyone who might spot him. Classes were in session, so the halls were deserted. He hastened straight to Pedro’s office. Meanwhile, Pedro was having a private meeting with another student who’d been struggling with his grades. The clomping footsteps that approached seemed more aggressive than usual, but the two humans were used to the movements of giants and didn’t acknowledge the rattling of the furniture as anything out of the ordinary. It was all normal, until the giant stomping around stopped right outside the door. Both Pedro and the student went quiet, glancing over to the cutout at the bottom corner of the door. Pedro spied a giant shoe just a moment before the door wrenched open. Both humans looked up, startled to behold Hunter glaring down at them with a savage glint in his eye. 

“Hunter!” Pedro exclaimed in surprise. “W-what...?” He trailed off when he saw how wild and hungry Hunter looked. Something was definitely wrong. 

Hunter smiled wide in a nasty sneer, drool dribbling from his chops. He stepped into the closet, hunching his shoulders to fit, and slammed the door shut behind him. He glared over at the student, who was gaping up at him with unfiltered terror. “Scram, pipsqueak! Unless you want to be my breakfast!” 

The student yelped and jumped out of his chair as if he just sat on a tack. He scampered out the hole in the door and Hunter blocked the exit behind him with his shoe. Pedro gulped as Hunter lowered himself down, struggling to fit in the tight space. He was significantly larger than when Pedro had last met with him, unbelievably so. 

“W-what did you need to talk to me about, Hunter?” Pedro squeaked, struggling to maintain his composure. 

“I have a bone to pick with your keeper,” Hunter sneered with condescension. “I want to teach him a lesson.” 

“Keeper? Excuse me?” Pedro answered. His face darkened. “You mean Ray? He’s my boyfriend! And what’s he got to do with anything?” Pedro may be small, but he would defend Ray to the ends of the earth, from anybody, even a giant as big and intimidating as Hunter. 

“Boyfriend,” Hunter said scornfully. “Disgusting! Giants should have nothing to do with humans except eating them. That’s the natural order of the world.” With that statement, he plucked Pedro out of his chair by the back of his shirt. “Down the hatch you go!” 

“H-h-hold on a second!” Pedro yelled in alarm. “Can’t we discuss this? What’s gotten into you?” His brain was scrounging for a way out. 

Hunter glared darkly at him. “No. That’s not how this works. If I’m fated to be fucking miserable for the rest of my life, you’re fated to be my food. Accept it.” Licking his lips eagerly, he opened his jaws and dangled Pedro over his maw. Pedro let out a sharp scream that was cut off as he disappeared into Hunter’s mouth. Hunter slurped on him as he checked the hallway before strolling out like nothing had happened. 

He left the school grounds unmolested, thinking about where to go next. Since he couldn’t live in the dorm, he would need to find a new place to stay, where he could decide what to do with his prey. With that thought, he swallowed his final human victim, relishing his squirms as he plunged down his throat to join the others. Hunter burned with spite and resentment, but his pain was mollified when he had the satisfaction of a belly full of humans. Violent fantasies flashed through his head. He would make them all suffer as much as he was suffering. He would make the world burn. 

Chapter 49

Chapter 1

Introductions + BYF

hello, hello and welcome to the blog! this is a quick post about pretty much everything you need to know around here. DNI and notes about me in my carrd under the cut, as well as tags and a general description of why this blog is here!

As a general disclaimer, I do not make NSFW content or content involving fatal vore. I will not necessarily block accounts that fall into either of these categories, but they do make me uncomfortable and I'd prefer that my posts weren't reblogged onto blogs that include those things, as I do not want minors that might follow my blog to be subjected to those things when scrolling through notes. Thanks.

If you are a g/t blog or a non-vore blog that does NOT want me to reblog their work, let me know-- I typically reblog g/t content and things related to the GID series that are not vore specific since this blog is a Getting in Deep blog First and a vore blog Second, but, I understand if you don't want your work to be mixed in with vore pieces, even if they are non-sexual in nature.

Additionally, I now have a ko-fi if you'd like to support me and some of the art I do for stuff like getting groceries, etc. (Some WIP posts may be shared there, too!)

Here's a site that has some general information about me along with the DNI! Please check it out first.

This is a fanblog for my currently 5 year strong hyperfixation on a series called Getting in Deep! It’s also just a blog to throw some of my favorite safe, non-sexual vore pieces and concepts, as well as some giant/tiny content that I think is cute. That being said, since this is essentially just a blog for me to flap hands about one of my favorite series, I will talk a LOT about GID and have long, long rambles about it at times. I've got ADHD and the hyperfocus is strong.

I’m also going to include a small disclaimer: any characters tagged gid or getting in deep are not owned by me! Louis Patriarch, William James Rowe, everyone else in those tags belongs to @/peachnewt, who you’ll be seeing a lot of on this blog. She’s the writer and creator of Getting in Deep, and she has the full series list here, if you want to read it!

I also will sometimes make changes to the main series canon or create headcanons that I've used to sort of pad out the characters when I draw them-- I refer to this alternative form of GID as Chicagoverse, because I originally had pictured the series in Chicago before learning it actually took place in Denver in a later update. These headcanons and changes are entirely self indulgent and are formed usually from roleplay scenarios, but I will talk about my interpretations for them regularly!

Taglist

Finally, here’s a short tag list I have set up for anyone interested! Generally I don’t tag major phobias or anything beyond general trigger warnings, so if you are a mutual and have a specific thing you need tagged, please let me know ahead of time.

#drawns - anything drawn by me

#asks - any asks or questions that are answered on this blog

#oc - my original characters

#gid - content I’ve created with characters from peachnewt

#sona - content with my personal sona characters that represent me

#commissions - commission updates

Specific Stories

#tsh - originally known as "the sisterhood", now rewritten into "Their Scattered Hosts". a complicated redemption story about scientifically modified creatures trying to grasp the spiritual world and the worst acts of humanity.

#perennial - a story I have been working on involving a gigantic creature in the middle of the earth, scientists struggling to cope with a dying world, and a bunch of kids in over their heads who were accidentally given shapeshifting abilities (but not in the way you'd think). A major point in this story is endosoma, but g/t will also be present regularly and vore sometimes slips in.

#mutualism - a world building story I have made with a couple of my friends, @/bathspaces and @/kuramons. humans no longer exist on this island-- the magical elements of the land have somehow taken its grip on the humans that came here long ago and transformed them into humanoid beasts that take after the forms of many birds, bugs, and other creatures in our normal world. it features vore + g/t as a major plot element and is in the process of being developed. ORIGINALLY known as #birds and bugs au , of which we wrote in our favorite fandom characters into this world rather than our own characters.

#tangibility - two guys fuck up. Badly. in their fight to try to kill each other for their own causes, they end up accidentally causing themselves to be shattered across space in time in a cosmic disaster. Their bodies no longer existing, they desperately search for anything that they can hold onto, finding that for the most part, there is only each other. No vore or g/t explicitly in this one, but it dabbles with body sharing, the multiverse, and a lot of weird stories, so it definitely can get into those elements at some point.

#dungeons and dragons - not necessarily an actual story, more of a mish mash of characters and stories that have played out in various d&d sessions over time. They usually all end up connecting somehow.

thank you for reading!! that’s all for now :D

continuation of Project t0m au vore with Wil's POV and him freaking out?

Wow this was quickly requested lmao, alright here you go!

Warnings: Soft vore, fear of digestion and death (none happen)

Words: 700+

First thing Wilbur woke up to was being warm, squished by some sort of material he couldn’t quite put his head on and being somewhat wet which was odd. Very odd, why would he wake up in a place like this? The last thing he remembered is being with Tommy.

He put his arm against the wall rubbing back and forth in hopes understanding what was around him, trying to get an understanding of where he currently was, he was shocked as the squishy place vibrated and loud purring could be heard, it reminded him of Tom-

…

Wait- the time he- this place- “TOMMY?!” he screamed as the realisation hit him, he was in Tommy’s stomach?! How?! Why?!

The room shifted quickly, Tommy adjusting himself as he woke up with a groan. “Tommy!”. Wilbur yelled out again, only for the walls to squeeze around him, “Tommy! Wake up! Right now!”. He tried to remain calm but come on, he was in somebody’s stomach?! He could die here?! Did everyone really expect him to be okay?!

He really didn’t want to hurt Tommy by any means, but he pounded at the walls, in hopes of getting Tommy’s full attention. He could hear him yawn as the room shifted more, the squeezing increased but in a more rubbing motion.

“TOMMY!”. He screamed and this time he got what could be called a proper response from Tommy, he got a saddened whine, “Tommy! What the fuck am I doing in here?! I can’t-“ He was cut off by a bigger whine from Tommy, with the rubbing increasing. Did- did Tommy want to keep him in here?...

“Toms- I-“ was this how he was doing to die? By the hands of what he saw was his younger brother?.. Why- Why would Tommy do this to him?...

He couldn’t help the tears that came from his eyes as some sobs escaped, he hated crying but it was something beyond his control as his mind raced with the possibilities of what and how painful his death was doing to be, he stretched out his hands as he tried to keep the pressure away from him.

Okay now Tommy was really panicked, the only time he had heard Wilbur cry was during that other incident when he was scared, was Wilbur scared? Oh god- he didn’t want to scare Wilbur, did Wilbur think he was in danger?!

The whines increased in volume and an overwhelming pressure beyond Wilbur’s strength caused the walls to crush him, but not in a bad way, the walls rubbed more quickly in order to try and soothe what’s inside, why wouldn’t Tommy let him out?... Why was he trying to keep him calm?...

“Tommy, please-“ he said in between sobs. “Let me out!”. He got another whine in response to that. And there was moments of silence, he could hear his friend’s thundering heartbeat, the rhythm had increased since Tommy had woken up, not to mention the other sounds of his body.

He could feel the walls around him move, in all honesty, if he weren’t going to die he’d happily stay here if it meant he’d be safe, but he was… Oh shit…

The reality hit in as he thought about it, he in fact did know it was safe, Tommy was trying to tell him it was safe, he was just being an idiot- why didn’t he remember it earlier? The thing he discovered whilst all that research. The fact Tommy could control his digestive system.

“I- Toms, do you know I’m safe in here?...”. There was an immediate response of rubbing and purrs, something he’d do to reassure Wilbur… So, Tommy knew about this fact himself... He sighed, “Jeez, I’m an idiot, aren’t I? I really thought you were out here trying to kill me” He laughed.

He finally allowed himself to relax slightly, “I completely forgot about the fact you could control this shit” he rubbed at the walls in hopes of comforting Tommy. “I’m sorry if I scared you bud, I was scared myself for a moment…”.

The purrs increased, “Why’d you do it while I was sleeping, though? I could’ve slept in your bed or something”. He got rubs in return, “Jeez, you’re a sucker for cuddles- Alright- Alright- I get it, we’ll do this for a bit longer but then you got to let me out alright? Can’t stay in here forever, dad will be worried and I got work to do.”.

@cuddlecave I don't normally tag people when I post fics but this was based off an ask you got a while back, I hope you like it!

Warning: this does contain fearplay, unwilling vore and a few mentions of death. The vore itself is safe, though.

Every time.

Every time they tried to talk to Gordon, it always ended like this. Him getting angry, then them getting angry. He didn't understand their sweet voice, didn't understand some of the things they did, but that wasn't a reason to be angry.

Why was he angry all the time!?

It started out as another joke turned argument that left Benrey sulking, away from the group while they rested. At this point, they were pretty close to Xen. It wouldn't be long before they would go through the portal, see Benrey at their full height, and..

Knowing Gordon, if they didn't start getting along like, yesterday, he'll attack them. Like he has been.

Since he's gotten that damn gun arm, he's been shooting at them and launching them away, and-

Great, now they're getting angry again.

They blew out a stream of sweet voice, red to blue.

A bloody sea means I'm angry.

As they finished the note, a small idea came to them.

Gordon couldn't understand the sweet voice, and Benrey couldn't understand his emotions. There had to be some kind of compromise. A lot of sweet voice was simply blank until the user feels an intense emotion, so maybe if there was a way to use the blank voice to see into Gordon's emotions…

They could try using blank sweet voice on him, but they'd have to be completely emotionless to do it. They took a deep breath, willing themselves to calm down. They gave the group a look over- all four seemed to be asleep, the oldest scientists huddled away from the other two and Gordon completely separated from the group. Jumping down from the barrel, they made their way over to where the sleeping HEV suit clad human lay slumped against the wall. Crouching down, they summoned what they could of the blank voice, allowing it to escape. There was no sound behind it, and the orbs faded on impact with the suit and hair of the human.

They didn't even change color.

Hm. Did it not work because he was sleeping? Well, maybe they'd just have to try it with him awake, then. They went back to their barrel, glancing at the other three members as they went, ensuring they had stayed asleep.

~~~

Benrey tried a few times to use the blank voice against Gordon since he's awoken, and each time it did the same thing. It didn't take any color or emotion from the scientist, and faded on impact. And for their part, only once did Gordon catch them doing it.

"What are you doing?" He snapped, turning to face them. "Wha?" "What was that? Tommy, what does white mean?" The older scientist looked confused. "Um, white can be- white can mean a lot of different things, Mr. Freeman. What did it look like?"

Benrey chose not to answer, instead frowning at the fact that the blank voice was not working.

"It was kind of transparent, I guess? It faded really quickly. What exactly are you trying to do with that?" And now his questions were directed back to the guard. "I dunno, what are you trying to do?" "I'm trying to go home, man, and you're not helping." "I think that's- that sounds like it's a blank sweet voice! There's no meaning to them." The confusion only increased from there, and Tommy gave Benrey a concerned look over Gordon's shoulder.

Benrey waved it off, looking back to the smaller human as he puzzled out the information. "What- why do you have blank sweet voice? I thought it was for emotions or something like that?" "It doesn't always have to. A lot of sweet voice starts off with- starts as blank, and then changes color when- if the user has a strong emotion."

"Are you all done talking or are we going to have to abandon you? We've been waiting for fucking ever!" Bubby cut in, glaring at the trio from the other side of the room. "We're coming, man, chill out." Gordon yelled back, turning to look at the alien. "Quit blowing sweet voice at me. I don't care if it's blank or not."

"And if I don't?"

They should have seen it coming, but they still jumped slightly when the man offered bullets as an answer, turning and storming towards the group.

Clenching their jaw to keep their neutral expression and hide their anger, they started forming another plan in their head. If the voice was too weak outside to react to Gordon, then maybe, they'll have to bring the human inside.

Would it scare him? Yea, most likely. But at this point, Benrey didn't really care anymore. Looking around that scare is what's important at this point, they're really tired of not knowing why Gordon was being so aggressive.

~~~

They were closer to the Xen portals.

In fact, they were nearing the Lambda labs, the halls mostly intact unlike the main building. Benrey was getting restless.

If they were going to try this, they needed to do it before they got to the labs. There were surviving scientists there, and once they made it there there would be no chance to get Gordon away from them. For now, they were getting ready to take another break, and Benrey saw their chance.

"Hey, feetman." "Do not call me that." He started, hostility already creeping into his tone. "But what is it?" "Something's over there." They pointed to a pile of crates a little ways away from the group. "Wanna go check it out with me?" His eyes narrowed. "And why would I do that? Last time I did anything with you, you got my fucking arm cut off. I'm good, thanks." "What if they're coming to attack the team?"

He tried not to show the conflict on his face as he looked over to the other scientists, all three already settled down and dozing off.

He didn't want to have another ambush situation, for himself or for any of the team. But could Benrey really be trusted after everything that happened so far?

"You stay here. I'll go check it out." The alien shrugged, stepping aside to let Gordon through.

They made sure their footsteps were silent as they followed, giving one last look to the team before following him behind the crates.

Still sleeping, but it would be wise to keep the human quiet. They sized up enough to make it easy to get him down, then crouched to get as close to his level as possible. The brunette was clueless, peering around the side of the crates, gun arm at the ready. When there was nothing there, he swore under his breath. Of course Benrey lied about the threat to make him leave the group.

Wait, why would they try to get him away from the group? He whirled around, ready to go back over there and confront the guard, and halted in his tracks immediately.

He should have figured Benrey would follow him, but this..

The alien was huge, at least twenty feet tall, and the only thing Gordon could really make out in the dark were their eyes, a yellow glow that was a lot closer than he wanted it to be.

Even closer, which he realized too late, was a giant hand. The large fingers wrapped around the human too quickly for him to react, trapping his gun arm to his side and covering his mouth to keep him quiet. The grasp was gentle at first, but his squirming as he caught up to the situation caused it to tighten. Not enough to prevent him breathing, just enough to keep him still.

Unable to move his body, his mind began racing. What could Benrey possibly want with him that would lead to something like this? How was this even possible!? Yea, they said they weren't human before, but he didn't think it was to this extent!

God, they already got his arm cut off, what more could they want?

That thought alone made his breath catch.

Benrey only watched Gordon struggle in their hand for a moment, puzzling out the best way to go about this. The gun arm concerned them the most, but they could probably cocoon it while he was in their mouth, as long as they worked quickly.

Gordon flinched when they heard a low hum, squirming more violently to try and at least free his face. If he could yell for the team, one of them could come save him. With the finger in his way, he could barely see, which made it even more disorienting when his upper half was suddenly surrounded in heat. What happened? Where was he?

He tried to squirm more, feeling the hand slipping away, when something heavy pressed into the chestplate and back of the suit, not just holding him in place but also starting to crack the latches holding the suit together.

Their eyes narrowed when they slipped him up to his ribcage in their mouth. They didn't think about the hev suit before, but now that it was impossible to ignore, they didn't think they could get it down without sizing up more. And if Gordon kept squirming like he was, it was pretty likely he'd damage something.

It had to come off. They'll figure out a way to explain it to the team later. Quickly, they blunted their teeth halfway, allowing the points to start digging into the armor surrounding the human. They had to be careful, they couldn't afford to hurt him right now, but they also needed to go faster. He was getting aware, and they could feel him trying to point his gun somewhere to shoot.

Once they heard the crack of the latches falling apart, they pulled him in far enough to cocoon his gun. They rolled him around, dislodging the now unattached armor pieces and forcing them to the front so they could spit them out. Unintentionally, he was helping undo the armor with his squirming. He was shouting, but Benrey wouldn't focus on it. They knew what it would be and they knew it would make them stop.

It didn't take long after the suit started cracking for Gordon to figure out where he was. The humid heat, the pressure on the suit, the darkness- there was only one place that he could be. He started screaming, yelling for Benrey to let him go, or anyone to help. When that didn't immediately work, he tried to remember where he was in relation to the giant alien eating him, tried to aim his gun up to shoot them in the eyes, or just in the head. He squirmed more frantically when his suit finally succumbed to the pressure with a loud crack, suddenly being drawn further inside. The floor beneath him lifted and he rolled to the side, the chestplate staying where it had last been. His gun landed in a puddle that seemed more sticky than the saliva around him- a thought that made him cringe in disgust, and he aimed his gun to the roof of the mouth and clenched his nonexistent fist.

Nothing. The gun clicked a few times, but something had jammed the barrel.

Sweet voice.

Before he could even come to terms with being completely defenseless, he was flipped around again, this time losing the back of the armor, leaving his torso completely bare. For a split second, he imagined getting severed on Benrey's teeth- he'd seen them before, sharp like a razor, he'd be nothing hard to bite through armorless- and his panic increased tenfold. He was back to screaming, flailing out and hitting at whatever he could. His leg got caught between two teeth, tongue curling around him to hold him still and he paled, expecting the worst- he already knew what to expect, the pain would be unbearable, but maybe it would be quick with how big those teeth are- and his legs armor was promptly shredded off as he was dragged backwards.

His breath stuttered as he tried to comprehend that his leg was still there, as the other one was put through the same treatment. Through his panic, he couldn't see it, but they were being.. surprisingly gentle.

Their tongue pressed insistently at his arm, either trying to push the armor pieces off or push his arm to their teeth to pull the armor off that way. He tried to pull it away, swearing at the alien again, and when that failed his entire body was shoved forward.

Trying to maneuver the human with their tongue alone was an almost impossible feat. He was dead set on making this as hard as possible, wasn't he? The thought annoyed them, and before they could stop it they growled lowly. It was enough to make the human pause their struggling, and this time they succeeded in getting their arm in position to strip the armor off of it. They tried to ignore the shaking.

They forced themselves to focus.

There was no more armor in the way, the gun was jammed with sweet voice, it was just the human alone now. There was no reason they can't get an accurate reading on his emotions now. He was scared right now, yea, but surely that wouldn't get in the way of reading his other emotions, right? It shouldn't, at least.

So with nothing else in the way, they tipped their head back and swallowed.

~~

Everything stopped after the armor had been stripped from his arm, his body laying limp on their tongue. His breath was still stuttering, despite his best attempts. How was he to calm down in a situation like this? Even if Benrey decided to let him go, he was defenseless now. No armor to save him from the electric shocks from the pepper puppies or the headcrabs. Who knew how long their sweet voice would last, too?

He was well and truly caught.

A small part of him had hoped it would be a joke, a malicious prank, but then he was slipping backwards and that hope shattered abruptly. He didn't even have time to try to plead with the entity before his legs were ensnared, and the rest of him followed immediately after.

The trip down was short, Gordon knew that, but with the muscles around him squeezing the air from his lungs, it felt like hours. He almost compared it to drowning- and just as quickly tried to diminish the thought. Thinking about other ways to die wasn't really helping him here, was it? If he had the air to do so, a bitter laugh might have escaped him at that.

Drowning had to have been better than what he was about to experience, that was for sure. Panicked tears continued escaping his eyes, getting picked up by the flesh around him as he continued down.

Over the static-like fear in his mind, he could faintly make out a steady heart beat, maybe faster than one usually would have. Hey, this was a non-human creature, maybe their heart was supposed to beat faster.

It made something in his chest ache, hearing it. It reminded him too much of a stuffed bear he owned as a kid, that had a heartbeat box in it. It used to lull him to sleep every night.

Now a heartbeat was lulling him to death.

His feet hit a closed off space, and as he realized he had stopped moving, the space opened and he slipped through, falling to the floor of the chamber with a small thud.

His surroundings were black- or dark blue, maybe? It was hard to tell for sure, because every surface was covered in a slippery, transparent white slime.

Had he been in a better state of mind, he might have recognized the color as the sweet voice Benrey had been sending his way lately.

As a matter of fact, the puddle he was sitting in was now a brilliant yellowish-green.

Upon seeing it change to the almost sickly color, one he falsely recognized as acid, he finally broke down.

~~

Green like pear means I'm scared

Benrey frowned. That couldn't be the only emotion that the human felt, right? There had to be more. He tried to pry more, sensing whatever he could.

Reddish-brown like dirt means I feel hurt

Dark green to jet means I'm upset

Light brown like a cup of tea means I'm filled with uncertainty.

Before they could even try to think about those, Gordon screamed.

Their eyes snapped wide open, and instinctively they clenched the muscles of the pouch he was in. That made it worse, he was suddenly kicking and hitting everything he could, wailing as if he couldn't form words.

Maybe he couldn't, too shaken up.

Their own breathing started picking up the longer he thrashed around. It was clear to them that he wasn't getting the right amount of air, gasping and choking on both air and tears when he wasn't yelling, and if they didn't get him calmed down soon, he might faint.

They tried pressing at him, holding him still. It couldn't hold him completely still, their tremors still very prominent to the alien.

A new color joined the sweet voice they could sense from him.

Navy blue like the midnight sky means I think I'm gonna-

They couldn't finish the rhyme, completely horrified at the emotion itself.

Did- did Gordon really think they wanted to kill him!? The thought alone made them feel sick, but they tried to stomp it down. Right, they can talk through this after he stops panicking.

"Hey." He flinched sharply against their hand, and they had to fight their own emotions to not start crying.

This wasn't what they thought would happen, they didn't want Gordon scared of them, they just wanted to understand his emotions. Now he was scared-no, terrified of them. He was sobbing, thinking he was going to die. Because of them.

"Hey, calm down please?" He was silent for a moment, and they felt him move, likely to hug himself. "How-" his voice was shot, cracked and raspy and thick with emotion. "How do you expect me to calm down? In here?"

"I-"

"I thought- I thought the arm was enough. Why? Why do you want me dead so bad? And like this? You couldn't just shoot me!?"

More emotions were bleeding through the sweet voice, and God it was starting to overwhelm the poor alien.

Fear, panic, hurt, uncertainty, sorrow, resentment-

"I don't. Uh, want you dead. You're not dead."

"Benrey, I'm literally in your stomach. If you don't let me out soon, I'm gonna-" he choked on a sob. "Let me out. If you don't want me dead, let me go. Please."

"You're not gonna die. Not gonna kill you. You're safe, it's just a sweet voice pouch. Watch." They closed their eyes, ignoring their own emotions and tried to think of calming thoughts.

The sweet voice slime coating the human changed from the greens and browns to a familiar blue, and he could even feel the effects of it.

His fear skyrocketed. Benrey was just calming him down to be an easy meal!

That sharp pear color flooding all of the calming thoughts they had just summoned scared them, truthfully. They didn't think the little human could emote so much, or so strongly.

"Hey, friend. I'm not trying to hurt you." "What are you doing then!? Why won't you let me out if you don't want to hurt me!? You're trying to trick me again!" He was dissolving into sobs again, seemingly unconsolable.

Benrey frowned. Letting him out now means there was a good chance they wouldn't ever get to set things right with him. But nothing else that they've tried was working, and the longer he stayed there, the worse they felt. Reluctantly, they brought their hands to their middle and allowed their torso to split open.

Silence. He knew it, Benrey was just trying to get him quiet so the others wouldn't wake up and see them doing this. They were trying to get off Scot free, and there was a pretty good chance they'd succeed. Knowing the team, they'd just brush his death off and keep going forward. He broke into another sob, moving to bring his knees to his chest.

The wall he had leaned against suddenly split open with an awful ripping sound and he tumbled backwards with a yelp. He sprawled out onto the familiar texture of the giant's hands, though this time they were cupped together, not trying to hold him in place. There was another strange sound as their torso stitched itself back together seamlessly, and he closed his eyes to try and block it out. He forced them open when the sound stopped, looking up to meet the golden eyes from before, this time spilling over with tears and full of sorrow and guilt. He scrambled back, trying to escape the hold, and Benrey didn't try stopping him, lowering their hands to the ground.

He took several steps back from them, aiming their gun arm at the entity. It was still jammed, even more so than before now, but it comforted him. They didn't try to pursue, just staring at his soaked form.

For several long, tense silent moments, green and yellow eyes stared each other down.

Benrey looked down, breaking the eye contact. "'M sorry."

"What?" It had been so soft, he barely heard it. "'M sorry. I didn't want to scare you that bad. Just wanted to understand."

"Understand..? In what fucking world does that help you understand anything!?"

"Was blank voice. It colored to your emotions so I could read them. Thought you'd just be all angry like you always are."

"I'm.." he paused. Did.. Did they really assume he was just furious throughout this entire time?

Through all of the fighting and the lives taken in front of him, or by him..?

"I wasn't really angry, man. Annoyed, yeah, but I-I'm stressed! I'm just trying to make it home alive, keep the team alive, and… I don't want to die here. I can't just come back like you can."

"You're just scared." Benrey affirmed. "'S the biggest thing I could pick up. Didn't know..."

That was another fair point, the arm.

"Didn't know you couldn't respawn. You can't regen either, can you?" Gordon shook his head. "No. So this…" he lifted up the gun arm. "It's gone forever. I don't get it back. God, I'll be lucky to get a proper prosthetic for it after that potion." He laughed, but it was bitter and humorless.

Benrey didn't laugh, nor find it funny. Their shoulders hunched slightly, and a frown seemed to permanently wipe the neutral expression from their face. Neither of them commented on the tears dripping down their face. "'M sorry. They weren't even supposed to take it, just rough you up a lil."

"That still doesn't make it better." Gordon sighed. "Look, I accept the apologies, but you have to understand I can't just forgive and forget this shit. There's no way I can just come back from all this okay."

Still, the thought that, even with their unorthodox method of doing so, Benrey had tried to understand their emotions and their point of view, was.. nice. It was a step in the right direction, at least. "Not yet, anyway. Maybe in the future, if you still don't want to hurt me."

"Nah, pacifist route now. 'M done hurting you. Just wanna be friends."

"Let's start with acquaintances, and see if we can work up from there?"

"Sure, Benrey redemption momense begin." And just like that, they were back to their normal height, a little smaller than the scientist. "Yea. Just.. let's not tell the science team about this. Okay?" "Kay."

~~

Benrey led him off to go find another HEV suit before they finally returned to the group, Tommy already awake and the elders starting to wake up themselves. Thankfully, the brunette didn't mention the duo being gone when he woke up.

"Ah, good morning, Gordon!"

"Mornin', Coomer. We should probably start going."

"Yes, by my calculations we have about an hour before we reach the Lambda labs!"

Benrey looked uneasy at the mention of the labs, and Tommy gave them a comforting smile. To his surprise, however, Gordon gave the alien a worried look.

And later, he wound up pulling them aside and they seemed to talk it out, ending with a pat on the back and the two joining back in seemingly better spirits. Tommy smiled. Whatever had happened when he was asleep seemed to improve the duo's relationship, so who was he to worry?

Spider Virgil! (Introduction)

So, I guess this is a bullet fic? I always liked to write like these but never knew they had a name lol. Anyways, lets go!

If you’d like to talk more about this AU, you can send me an ask at @foxfire-and-midnight-wings​ or on here. (Preferably only using this one for asks that could bring potential to expand on the story or universe, with the other one for smaller asks and non-canon talk)

[Next]

[Fanfic Masterlist]

Warnings: super long post, talk about spiders and spider traits (fangs/venom, extra eyes, extra legs, etc.) and the usage of them, talks of spider and snake bites/venom (aka non-sexual biting), general anxiety thoughts and cognitive distortions

[This is basically an AU where Virgil has some spider-like traits, similarly to Remus and Janus with their respective animals. No one is unsympathetic!]

- - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -

First off, he has a little set of extra eyes underneath his 'real' eyes (only four eyes in total)

He got nervous before introducing himself to the other sides (aka the ‘light sides’) so he had Janus and Remus help him use makeup to hide them.

Janus & Remus understand bc while they like their animal traits they know he's always nervous about them.

While Remus only hides his octopus tentacles, Janus tends to hide his fangs, most his scales that aren’t on his face (ex: neck and shoulder), and his extra arms around many of the others.

Virgil has setules so he can climb walls and stuff, which is how he gets up and sits on places that shouldn't be sat on.

Also, he has 4 spider legs that are connected to the muscles on his back

One pair is positioned just underneath his shoulder blades, the other pair is around his mid-lower back

When he’s not hiding his legs, they usually are positioned as if they were giving him a weird hug (top are resting on his shoulders, bottom are wrapped a little bit around his torso)

Also fangs!

He has extended canine teeth that (surprise!) connect to a pair of venom glands on his neck

This means that his teeth are really sensitive too, though, which can suck at times

He had a bad habit of instinctually injecting venom into meat and stuff he eats, but luckily it doesn’t hurt him. Now that they’re all older though, all the ‘dark’ sides were able to adjust to their animal traits or habits.

In this case, that meant he trained himself not to automatically inject his venom into stuff

Remus was the first to find out about venom milking, because it’s Remus

Because both Janus and Virgil have fangs + venom, he knew that they were constantly worried about accidentally hurting someone and not having an antidote. So he brought up the idea to them

Luckily, they were all young when they discovered this so there weren’t any inappropriate jokes about it, but Remus makes them a lot in the present (along with the vore jokes, which everyone hates)

Basically, for those who don’t really know, the way people make antidotes and medicine to help with venom from animals like spiders and snakes is through extracting the venom by a process called “milking”

So they ended up experimenting a lot and they eventually made their own antidotes to both Janus and Virgil’s venom

And once they both also learned how to bite things (and as a result each other) without using their venom

(Snakes and spiders can do what’s called a “dry bite”, basically they bite without injecting venom into what they bit)

This revelation ends up with Janus and Virgil often threatening to bite the other person, sometimes if they fight they actually do

The antidotes have been helpful on the few occasions one of them injects a tiny bit of venom by accident (which was extremely rare, and only ever happened when they were younger)

Virgil and Janus still regularly milk and make their antidotes, and they usually keep some of both in all three of their rooms for emergencies

(sometimes they do it just because they can, and end up giving it to Remus so he can do weird experiments with it in the Imagination)

Also, the hissing? Janus is a snake, so that makes sense. But Virgil?

Well, after a little research, they ended up finding out that spiders make a low hissing noise called “stridulation”. So technically, spiders hiss too.

Virgil uses that against Remus when he tries comparing him to a kitten, and he threatens to bite him

[The Present Situation w/ the Other Sides]

- - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -

He was planning a big reveal for the ‘light’ sides at one point (before he was accepted) but he never went through with it

Because Accepting Anxiety happened, he was worried he'd lose the friendship/acceptance of the others due to his traits. (Anxiety and cognitive distortions, y'know? Plus, he saw how freaked out Patton and the others were by the spider decorations in his room, how could he expect them to react any different to him?)

And so he continues to hide them and his other abilities

which is an absolute pain because while he can easily cover up his extra pair of eyes, he has to be very careful about not showing anyone his fangs

And don’t get me started on how hard it’d be for him to get into his jacket and positioning it just right so his legs aren’t being squished but they aren’t very visible

Fun fact! That’s why he always appears on the stairs. he can easily hide them by leaning against the wall or positioning his back to where no one can see them

But he still gets little urges to do things spider-like because of his anxiety.

For example: crawl up the wall and go in corner = no people = safe

So to fill that little spider instinct to crawl up places to get away from people he takes to sitting in places he shouldn't.

Top of the fridge, the counter, anywhere he can get while being able to reason his way out of being questioned on how he got up there

To his surprise, no one stops him. If anything, Patton calls it cute and Roman basically encourages it

And so things go on like normal, and he always takes off his makeup once he's in his room.

Sometimes he indulges a bit and climbs the walls

He has a small resting area that looks similar to a hammock (but it’s practically a nest of blankets) that’s connected to his walls. Sometimes he’ll sleep up there because it’s off the ground and away from everything

he tends to lay on his stomach and to spread out as much as he can when up there

(Janus and Remus find it hilarious, but Virgil points out that Janus can’t say anything because he does that too)

No one has seemed to catch on that he has spider traits, and he is extremely relieved about that

Then Janus comes along and introduces himself to Thomas and the others.

And then Remus joins in too.

And while none of them are on bad terms, Virgil gets more and more worried someone is going to point out their animal traits and ask him if he has any.

And he worries because he doesn't know how to respond

He can't just say

"Oh yeah, all the 'dark' sides have animal traits and I've just been hiding mine from you in fear of rejection and that you'll all hate me. By the way, my anxiety is making me not say anything about this because I'll have a panic attack just thinking about telling you, and so I haven't said anything about it, and the more time that passes makes the anxiety about telling you guys worse which causes me to put it off even more. And it causes a spiral from there that often makes me whole myself up in my room for days on end."

So he tries to prevent anyone from asking about the 'dark' sides by making it seem like he left them on extremely bad terms.

It takes a minute for Janus to realize it’s not the normal banter they throw around, it’s something more desperate and anxiety-ridden

Janus catches onto his plan very quickly, and when he can he gets Virgil alone with him and Remus to talk it out.

Virgil tells them about his fears of rejection and how none of them know about his spider traits (especially because they went to his room once and Patton was freaked out just by the spider curtains, making his fears worse)

So they all make an agreement to help Virgil hide his traits and to make a plan to help the others not ask them about each other

And then Remus just goes "so you're saying I can fuck with my brother? That's the plan, right?"

Cause he is so on board as long as he can cause chaos.

And what better way to cause chaos than by pretending to be in an arguement or on extremely bad terms with a close friend, forcing the others to watch it happen and be uncomfortable as they argue back and forth

Janus just agrees because he likes being dramatic and it's not like they didn't banter a lot before now, they just get to make it public and more "serious" than before

(They all know it’s just because he wants to be part of the Drama™)

They make a list of things they can and cannot make jabs/remarks about

And then they prepare for the chaos

(Note: This is not them being “unsympathetic”, they all agreed on the plan and all know what they are signing up for. The entire purpose is to make the others think that they have bad relations with each other, which some may interpret the arguing/jabs as the characters being “unsympathetic”)

[The Chaos Time Begins]

- - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -

So this all happens before Selfishness v. Selflessness, right?

Which is what makes the entire courtroom scene funny to the ‘dark’ sides, bc they all were planning to have that be when the drama really started to take off

When in the courtroom and Janus makes the comment about Virgil’s name, he really wasn’t expecting that, but after the initial panic passed he was like ‘I mean, alright I guess’

He didn’t really want them to know anything about his full name (Virgilius), but it wasn’t going to really hurt him

(He just wanted to avoid any of the references or jokes Roman and Logan would definitely make because he already got enough of it from Janus and Remus)

and the plan worked! almost a little too well, though...

After the courtroom scene ends, there’s a couple days of silence where everyone just. Doesn’t talk about it. At all. The ‘dark’ sides were prepared for this, so it’s not too bad for them, but it makes Virgil feel very awkward when around the others.

Then, after the third day of awkward avoidance, Patton and Roman gather all of them in the living room to try and make sure everything is okay.

Unfortunately for them, Patton had also invited Janus up there because he saw the tension between him and Virgil

And Janus physically restrains himself from showing how excited he is because this is the perfect way to make the Drama™ officially known

Virgil is just chilling on the couch waiting for everything to spiral, because while he appreciates the effort, the fighting is completely intentional. So there’s no stopping it now

It goes about as well as you can expect

While everyone else except Janus starts talking, Janus just patiently waits until someone brings him into the conversation to start making jabs. (mainly because he knows that the others actually have stuff they need to talk through first, before he derails the conversation)

They all are able to get to a good conclusion about the situation, misunderstandings are talked through, and now all that’s left is dealing with Janus

And as soon as Patton starts talking to Janus, he gets excited because the show can finally begin

Roman: Now, I know not all of us really like him, but- Virgil: like him?! That’s funny, princey, because I really fucking hate him! Janus: Oh, come on, Virgil! Just lighten up a little. You’re seeming a little... dark. Virgil: Don’t. Patton, trying to prevent them from arguing: Hey, now, kiddos! Let’s take a moment and just step back to breathe, yeah? We don’t want this to- Janus: become a truth-telling session between us and Virgil? Patton: become an arguement.

The others try to help Patton defuse the situation, but it doesn’t work. If anything, it makes the situation worse because Janus uses them as fuel for some of his arguments.

Virgil: Yeah, keep talkin’ pal! I’m sure they really want to hear it from someone who makes it his job to harass everyone Janus: Well, sorry about that Sir Emo, but I couldn’t hear you over the sound of you leaving us. Oh, wait! Sorry, you don’t want to remember being a ‘dark side’, now, do you? My apologies! Roman, frantically glancing between the two: Wait, wha-? Virgil, standing up: Oh shut it, you treacherous snake! Like you ever even wanted me there. You’re probably glad I’m gone, huh? The cold from your room is starting to affect your heart! Not like you had one, though. Janus: Why, you-!

They start arguing and slowly they start getting louder and louder

Eventually, they’re yelling insults at each other, and everyone else is at a loss for what to do

Then, in what seems to be the ending of the argument, Virgil yells “I never wanted to be there with you in the first place, you bastard!”

Janus takes a moment to pause, and then he just says “Right, of course. My bad, Virgilius”

The living room is quiet as Janus sinks out, and Virgil just stands there shaking

He knew it was going to happen, and he knew it was just his name, but the acting and drama was becoming a little too much. It started to feel too real to him, and he knows that’s just his anxiety speaking, but he still feels the tears gathering in his eyes

Patton tries reaching out to him, but Virgil says “I’m going to my room” in a broken voice

The others watch helplessly as he leaves, and eventually they all break off to their own rooms to think about what just happened.

Lost and Found [1]

Content: Soft Vore, Half size, Unwilling Prey, Mischievous Pred, Lamia/Naga Pred, Fearplay, Safe Vore (Ambiguous At First)

Word Count: 3927

Fandom: N/A; Original Content

A/N: My first piece posted on this account!! If you enjoy, please drop a reblog or comment!! <3

- Bahi watched the small human warily trek through the forest, eyes trying to peer through the darkness of twilight. The poor thing didn’t have any sort of night vision or even a weapon, from the looks of it. He’d been watching the young adult travel in a jagged, uncertain path for the last hour, and it looked like he was well and truly lost. Vulnerable.

As such, it was best that Bahi get a grip on him before any of the… less friendly folk in the forest did. He waited silently for the human to get past his current hiding spot, and then quickly struck from behind, knocking him over with a yelp and encircling him with his thick snake half in the next instant. He waited patiently for the human to stop uselessly struggling before speaking.

“Well, hello there.” He said with a wry curve to his lips. “Not often I see a human around here!” 

 The human took in his size and appearance with a wide eyed expression, lips pressed together in fear. Bahi looked back with an amused sort of curiosity.

“And what’s a mouthful like you doing in this part of the woods?” He asked, tightening his coils’ grip on the human just slightly. He could feel his quick, hummingbird-light pulse and the slight, ineffectual jerks of the human’s body reacting to the snug hold Bahi had on it. 

“I lost my way. Didn’t mean to end up here.” The human’s voice was soft, and surprisingly steady, considering that Bahi had heard his breath audibly hitch at the word ‘mouthful’. A reasonable reaction, what with all the rumors about lamia dietary choices. 

“Oh man, you must be a pretty unlucky guy.” Bahi commented, leaning forwards on his thick snaketail till his face was only a few inches from the human’s. “You got a name, or am I going to call you ‘snack’?” 

The human shuddered, soft brown eyes locked on him. “... It’s Ran.” He answered after a moment. His hands clenched and unclenched lightly from where they were trapped against his sides. Bahi grinned, chuckling at how Ran’s face paled a bit at the sight of his teeth. 

“Well, Ran, thanks for getting lost in my corner of the woods.” Bahi propped his head up with one hand, casually. “I’ve been feeling hungry all day.” 

Ran’s body stiffened, eyes widening. He inhaled, but before he could utter even a syllable, Bahi surged forward and covered his mouth with one hand. “Hey now,” He whispered, as though telling a secret, “don’t start making noise or I’ll have to bite you.” He smiled sharply again. “That’s no fun for either of us, yeah? There’s stuff in this forest that would be a lot less kind with you than me. A morsel like you doesn’t want to attract their attention.”

Ran stared at him with pinprick pupils, and he withdrew slowly, holding a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture to emphasize the message. Sure enough, when he removed his hand, the human didn’t start screaming.

“I-It’d be much more kind of you to let me go.” He said shakily, almost as low as Bahi’s whisper. Bahi pretended to consider this. 

“It would be,” he conceded, “but I’m hungry, and you smell delicious, so it turns out I’m not that kind.”

With that, he shifted his coiled tail to orient the struggling human horizontally, picking at the laces on his boots until they came loose enough to be tugged off. “No way I’m eating those,” he commented errantly, and then nudged Ran up at an angle just slightly so he could make eye contact with him. 

“Thanks for the meal.” He said, smiling, and then opened his mouth, teeth folding back. He huffed a chuckle at the human’s panicked breathing, and caught both ankles in one hand, pinning them together to bring them into his mouth. 

“Gghghhaugh.” Ran said weakly as Bahi wrapped his tongue around his ankles. He would have laughed at the reaction if his mouth hadn’t been occupied with feet. Instead, he lifted his tail to hold the human above his head, almost completely vertical. Never hurt to let gravity help out. 

He loosened his coils, causing Ran to start sliding lower. His throat opened up easily to accept the human’s twitching feet, and he swallowed thickly, a pleased purr starting up in his chest. Ran whimpered, and Bahi ignored it completely in favor of running his tongue along the calves in his mouth. 

“There’s gotta be something I could do for you so you’d let me go. Please, I’ve got money, I can hunt, I’ll do anything, please-” He twisted in his hold, chest swelling with panicked breaths.

Bahi huffed a laugh again, and made it clear exactly what he wanted from him by tilting his head back and swallowing, pulling more of Ran’s legs into his mouth. The fabric of his clothes didn’t taste nearly as good as his skin, he noted. Still interesting flavors, though.

As soon as he reached Ran’s navel, he unwrapped his tail from around the rest of his frame. Unsurprisingly, Ran immediately tried to go for his eyes, presumably to claw them out. Bahi caught his hands easily with his own, and then coiled the end of his tail around Ran’s small wrists, locking them together and then pulling them up above his head and out of the way.

Ran swore, writhing and straining to pull himself out, but his struggles only made him sink deeper into Bahi’s throat. His purring intensified as he swallowed again, eyes narrowed with enjoyment. Even so, his meal’s rapid, fearful bargaining was growing louder, and the last thing he wanted was to be interrupted. He reached up with one hand and ruffled Ran’s dark hair teasingly before pushing downwards, shoving him further into his mouth and swallowing several times. 

Bahi paused. At this point, the only part of Ran not entrenched in the lamia was his arms. Almost all of the human’s body was tucked into his throat and first stomach, his wriggling a delightful sensation on Bahi’s insides. Taking his time, he curled his tongue around Ran’s arms and swallowed lightly, dragging more of him into his esophagus. 

He looked cross eyed past his nose to the grasping hands sticking out of his mouth, and tilted his head back again, relishing the feeling as Ran slid down deeper, first stomach already starting to stretch with its new occupant. Lips twitching up in a satisfied smile, Bahi poked Ran’s fingers into his mouth one by one, and swallowed a final time. 

Soon enough, the only sign that the human had ever been there was the writhing imprint sliding down his throat. Bahi pressed his fingers against the movement and sighed as the last of the weight dropped into his stomach, wrapping his coils around himself and leaning back against them. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” He cooed, and got a bout of violent thrashing and indistinct panicking from Ran in response. 

“Come on, you’re not even being digested. I couldn’t digest you in that stomach if I wanted to.” Bahi pressed down on his exposed abdomen, chuckling when Ran shifted around trying to get away from his touch. After a few moments of silence as Ran absorbed that statement, he spoke. “You couldn’t?”

Bahi grinned. “Nope. I like to make my meals last as long as possible, after all.”

Ran was shaking inside of him. “You… You’re a monster.”

The lamia rolled his eyes, amused. Humans were so easy to mislead. “Yup. Thought you’d figured that out when I caught you in my giant snake coils? A little slow on the uptake there, kid.” He punctuated this by stretching out and relaxing, another rumbling purr starting up at the sensation of being pleasantly full. 

“Why would you even do something like this?” Ran spat, shuddering at Bahi’s movement. “Why not just kill me?” The implied ‘it’d be better than this’ went unsaid.

“Man, you’re kind of boring, huh?” Bahi continued over Ran’s indignant sound. “I did it for fun. And because I was hungry, obviously.” 

“Fun?! Eating people alive is fun to you?” Ran spat, twisting around as much as the small space would let him. Bahi’s eyelids drooped at the sensation, his pleased purr increasing in volume, much to the human’s ire. 

“Very.” He murmured, on the edge of deciding to head home and settle down for a nap. 

Before he could curl up properly, a sound caught his attention. It was faint, barely discernible to even his advanced hearing, but… It sounded like someone calling. Bahi stretched out leisurely, ignoring the discomfited movements from Ran, and then headed that way, long ears twitching to try and pick up the noise better. 

He didn’t have to go far before he could understand the words. Someone was yelling Ran’s name in long, echoing calls. He grinned in amusement. “Oh, so you didn’t come here alone?” 

“What?” The human evidently hadn’t heard his would-be rescuer yet. “What are you talking about?”

Bahi didn’t bother answering, instead moving faster towards the source of the noise. He knew Ran had heard it too when the human suddenly started struggling with a renewed vitality. 

“Stop! Don’t go near him!” Ran demanded, with a surprising amount of ferocity for someone who was in no position to make demands. Bahi kneaded his hands into his stomach in retribution and kept moving, eventually reaching the source of the voice. 

It was another human, this one taller with downturned hazel eyes and worry lines creased into his face. He was following the dirt path, but peering through the trees in search, presumably of his missing friend. Bahi flicked his tongue out, scenting the air. It seemed as though this one would be just as tasty as Ran. Maybe even as amusing. 

He moved further ahead along the path, finding a tree with a comfortable fork to rest his coils on. Before long, the new human came into view, and froze at the sight of the huge lamia draped in front of him, looking ready to bolt. Bahi offered him a sly grin, and then directed his words at the human curled up in his gut. 

“Looks like your friend is here.” 

Ran thrashed, alarmed, and the other human ran forwards a few jerky steps, eyes wide with horror. “Ran?” He yelled, eyes locked on the human-sized lump in Bahi’s stomach. 

“Glin?” Ran shouted back, hands pressing desperately against Bahi’s stomach lining. “Glin, run away! Get out of here!”

The newly-named Glin hesitated, looking between Ran’s trapped form and Bahi’s lax expression. He stepped forwards again, to Bahi’s amusement. Humans had no sense of self preservation. It was hilarious. 

“You… ate him?” Glin said, unsteadily. Bahi nodded a bit smugly, lowering himself to the ground and slowly making his way over to circle the human. Glin tensed, turning to keep him in view. 

“Could you… let him go? Please?” Glin said, backing up a step as Bahi came closer.

“It depends… I could be persuaded.” Bahi answered, tone light with humor as he felt Ran still inside of him. He flicked his tongue out again, picking up the delightful taste of a very nervous Glin from a foot away. “But I am so hungry… Perhaps I could release him for someone more likely to fill me up fully.” 

Glin’s head jerked up, understanding immediately what Bahi’s intent gaze meant. He looked at Bahi’s body, where Ran was now kicking up a fit that made the end of Bahi’s tail curl in pleasure, desperately trying to convince Glin to get away and leave him there. He swallowed visibly, and then met Bahi’s eyes, gaze determined and terrified in equal measure. 

“Let him go. I’ll take his place.”

Bahi smiled a very unreassuring smile. “How generous of you.”  

Ran was thrashing about still, making him one of the most energetic occupants Bahi’s stomach had ever had. He easily stopped the panicked movements and flailing limbs by tensing his core, his stomach muscles compacting Ran into an easy-to-regurgitate ball. It was never pleasant, forcing a human back up out of his gut, but it wasn’t particularly difficult either. In no time at all, the last of Ran’s wriggling form dropped out of his mouth, landing on the ground covered in saliva and stomach fluids.  

“Ran!” Glin quickly jumped forwards to help his friend, pulling him up and hugging him tightly. “I thought you were dead-”

“What are you thinking, you idiot?” Ran hissed back, struggling to his feet. “I don’t want you sacrificing yourself for me! I-”

“Whoops!” Bahi picked Ran up by the collar, prying him away from Glin and hoisting him into the air like a disobedient puppy. “Don’t go running off before your time!” He dropped Ran into his coiled tail, wrapping it tightly around him like a woven basket to muffle his protests.

Glin looked near tears, stress evident in his body language. “You said you’d let him go.”

“I did! And I will, once you’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain. I wouldn’t want you both trying to escape and betraying the deal. Then I’d be free to break my end of the deal.” Bahi leaned in, reaching out to run his clawed fingertips along Glin’s cheek. “I’m sure I could make room to fit you both, if I really tried. You wouldn’t want that.”

Glin nodded jerkily. “R… Right.”    

“Good.” Bahi smiled, and then pulled one of Glin’s hands to his mouth, wrapping his tongue around his wrist to taste him properly. Glin was tense but unmoving, and Bahi was delighted to find that he tasted just as good if not better than Ran. The stiffness wasn’t ideal though… Normally, he had no problem getting his unwilling prey to struggle all the way down, but Glin might interpret that as breaking their deal, which was no good. 

“I’ll give you a chance, since you bargained for your friend so valiantly. If you can get free of me now, I’ll let you both go.” Bahi offered. As the proposal registered in Glin’s mind, he brought both of the human’s wrists to his mouth and swallowed, eager to begin. 

Glin jerked back, but found that once something was stuck in Bahi’s throat, odds were you weren’t going to be able to just yank it back out. Instead, he kicked out at Bahi’s abdomen, making him grunt slightly. A valiant effort, but one doomed to fail.

Bahi met Glin’s gaze with amused eyes, and then let his jaw open further and shoved his head in, swallowing again so that Glin’s arms were fully caught in his throat and his head only inches from following suit. Glin writhed with the fervour of an animal caught in a trap, and Bahi reached down and picked the human up by the sides, tilting his head back as to ease the process. He had to be careful now if he didn’t want Glin to suffocate, which would be no fun.

He swallowed, easily accommodating the human’s upper half, and paused to savor the taste. Glin kicked desperately, wriggling with his whole body, and Bahi began to purr with satisfaction. Frenzied movement in his coils reminded him of his other catch, and he loosened them enough that Ran could see as Bahi angled his head back further, letting Glin’s thrashing legs slide further into his mouth easily. 

As expected, Ran nearly howled in protest and began to attack the coils holding him with renewed energy. Bahi struggled not to laugh, instead wrapping his tongue around twitching ankles and swallowing a few times to get the last of Glin down, exhaling with pleasure as his meal slid into his stomach completely, still thrashing. 

For a moment, he simply basked in the sensation of being full, eyes half closed as his whole body vibrated with the force of his purring. After a moment, Glin stopped struggling, probably having accepted that escape was futile, and Bahi forced himself not to take a nap when there was a very angry human still wrapped in his snake half. He tightened his coils, forcing Ran to quit trying to fight, and lifted the human up in the air. 

“Oh, quit it. You were the one trying to get out a while ago, so be grateful. Your friend made a brave choice for you, after all.” 

Ran had gone limp, staring at Bahi’s slightly distended stomach. Bahi glanced down as well, and realized that while he could feel every shuddering breath Glin took in his stomach, from the outside it looked as though his prey wasn’t moving at all. 

“Oh, he’s fine.” Bahi sighed, rearranging himself so that he could settle down on his coils properly, and then shoved Ran against his abdomen, causing Glin to jerk in surprise. Ran almost flinched away, and then seemed to dismiss the fact that he was pressed up against a lamia’s full stomach, and sought out Glin’s shape instead. “Glin! Glin, are you okay?”

Glin twisted, able to hear Ran’s voice even through flesh. “Ran! Why are you still here? Go! Please, just run! Go home!”

Ran stared, almost uncomprehending of the choice he was supposed to be making. “I can’t… I…” He looked up at Bahi, eyes glassy. “Please, I can’t leave him… I’ll do whatever you want, anything, I’ll feed myself to you, just please let him go. He only came here because I got lost, it’s my fault and he shouldn’t have to suffer for it. Please, I’m begging you.” 

Bahi had been nearly asleep, enjoying the blissful sensation of having two humans pressed up against the inside and outside of his stomach walls, and sighed as he was dragged back to dealing with the situation. Panic and anger were amusing, but tears like this simply soured the sweet taste in his mouth. He supposed he should have expected it, preying on the bonds between two close friends like this. “I can’t sit here in this forest all day making deals and re-eating the both of you.” He grumbled. 

Well. That actually sounded appealing on some level, but he wanted to nap already. 

He leaned forwards lazily and dragged his tongue along Ran’s face, reminding himself of the taste. Ran’s whole body twitched but the little human forced himself not to jerk away, even as Glin pleaded with him to run. Bahi sighed, as though put upon. “A nap.” 

Ran blinked, slowly. “What?”

“I want a nap, and then I’ll let your friend go.” 

“Won’t… won’t he die? Please-”

Bahi rolled his eyes. “Didn’t I tell you I can’t digest anything in that stomach? He won’t die. I’d have to hibernate for days for him to run out of air in there.” 

Ran seemed to consider this, watching Bahi’s face as though gauging his honesty, and then nodded, slowly. “Okay… I’ll wait for you to finish napping.” 

“Good.” Bahi stretched, excited at the prospect of sleeping, and reached over for Ran. “C’mere.” 

He lifted the human up again, watching as he twisted uncomfortably in midair. “Wh-what are you doing?” 

“Did you think I was just going to leave you out here so you could run off and bring back a hunting party? I’ve got just enough room to squeeze you in there.” 

Ran seemed to freeze, and Glin spoke up. “You said you’d let him go! We made a deal!” 

Bahi sighed again, setting Ran down on the ground proper. “There. I let him go.” Ran stayed still, like a rabbit trying to figure out its next move. “Last chance to run away.” Bahi told him, nudging his shoulder with his tail. Ran stumbled a step, looked to Glin, and then the forest path. He looked at Bahi. “I’m not leaving Glin.” 

Glin tried to protest, but Bahi easily ignored him to instead lift Ran back off the ground. “Great, then it’s settled. Don’t move too much and this will go quicker.” He said, and then opened his mouth wide. Ran looked down into Bahi’s maw and let himself go lax. “Okay.” He said weakly.

True to his word, he didn’t thrash around as Bahi lowered him into his mouth for the second time. It went much faster this time around, as Ran didn’t struggle and Bahi didn’t take quite as long savoring the sensation. He swallowed quickly, dragging him down into his throat with impressive speed, and patted Ran’s head before finishing up, once again tracing the human’s descent to his stomach. 

It was a somewhat tight fit, shoving two humans into his first stomach, but the slight discomfort was dwarfed entirely by the pleasure radiating through his body as the two struggled to adjust, moving around and speaking to each other in low whispers. 

He moaned slightly, tempted to just sleep right there on the forest floor, but there was always the chance that something bigger could come along and swallow him up, and then he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his part of the deal. So, he set off for home, travelling slowly along the ground. His passengers struggled to rebalance themselves.

“Where are you going?” Ran asked, alarm creeping into his voice. He shifted nervously, making Bahi’s purr rise in volume for a moment.

“Home.” Bahi said, a bit blearily. “Safer to sleep there.”     

“Where is that? This wasn’t the deal.”

Bahi yawned. “Relax. ‘S not far, and we won’t get snapped up by anything big if we’re there.”

“Bigger than you?” Ran radiated disbelief. 

“Big enough to gulp me down in two mouthfuls.” Bahi winded through the trees, amused by the shocked silence that followed. “This forest is full of dangerous folk.” 

“Then… why do you live here?”

Bahi hummed in false consideration. “Because of all the tasty humans that get lost in the woods.” He retorted, teasingly. 

Glin stiffened, but Ran just halfheartedly kicked at his stomach wall. “You enjoy toying with us, don’t you?” 

“Ah, so you caught on.” Bahi purred, ducking underneath a branch. “Humans are too funny not to mess with. Especially when hunters come out trying to skin me, of all things. Hilarious.” 

“Did you… eat them, too?” Glin asked, tentatively.

“I eat most humans that come my way. I’ve got to eat to live, after all. And humans are the most filling thing out there,” he said blithely, aware they’d misinterpret his words but not satisfied enough to give the game up just yet.

There was silence from the two for a while, probably thinking about how they were in the same stomach that had contained plenty of humans before them. Bahi sighed in relief as he finally reached his little cove, clearly marked with his scent and difficult to stumble into on accident. 

Ran finally spoke up again. “If you hadn’t heard Glin, would you have digested me?” 

“Hm?” Bahi settled under his favorite rock outcropping, finally getting to settle down properly. “Why would I digest you? Much nicer to let you squirm around in there.” He coiled around the humans in his stomach, eyelids fluttering as the sensation of being full began to lull him to sleep. 

“I mean once you got bored of me. Or were you going to leave me in there until I suffocated? Are you really going to just let us leave tomorrow?” Ran shoved out, only increasing the volume of Bahi’s sleepy purring. 

“Too many questions… Talk in mornin’. Tired.” Bahi mumbled. Ran said something in response, but it was indistinct to his ears, and in moments he was asleep.

➤ MEET FRANCO: 29, SLAVE, HUMAN

Full Name: Franco Del Rio Nickname(s): Frankie Pronouns: He/Him Birthday: February 12, 1993 Age: 29 Status: Slave Major: Photography Species: Human Special Powers: None Sexuality: Bisexual I am a: Submissive I want a: Dominant/Switch Turn-Ons: Bondage, impact, humiliation, degradation, TPE, orgasm denial/control, breath play, public play, group sex / being gang-banged, very rough sex, marking, exhibitionism, knife play, water sports, choking, feminization… There isn’t much he won’t do. Turn-Offs: Scat, vore, vomit, incest, actual non-con, feet

➤ BIOGRAPHY

Franco Del Rio was born in Italy to parents Giovanni and Elena Del Rio. His grandparents were also a big part of his life and they doted on Franco and his siblings. He had an older brother called Mateo and a younger sister called Anna Maria. His parents doted on him and he was spoilt beyond belief, along with his siblings but it did lead to some sibling jealously when one appeared to get more the other and that was probably why he is now a jealous person.

He attended primary school in Italy and made some lifelong childhood friends who he talks to on a regular basis. He adores all his friends and loves the relationship he has with them. As a child, Franco found that he struggled in class but by the time he went to a High School in Italy, he’d found his flow and started to do well in class. He was more of a creative type, preferring art and performing to any of his academic classes and it showed in his grades.

When he was fifteen, his parents got him a camera and he fell in love with the art of photography, spending his free time taking photos of the all the scenery around Italy and of his friends, creating a scrapbook of his life.

After high school was finished, Franco’s parent’s took the decision to move to America. They wanted to live in California and they found an incredible house, big enough for all the family and so, after many months of planning and saying goodbye, they packed up and left Italy, moving to start a new life.

He struggled at first, not having any friends and he found himself quite often wondering the streets, taking photos on his own and keeping his head down, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. He found a group online that allowed him the chance to meet other photographers in the city and he decided to go to a meet where he met some of the people he would liken to his childhood friends in Italy. He would even video call his Italian friends so they could meet his new American friends. He found he settled in well and started to find his feet when he met the man of his dreams.

Franco met a guy in the group called Jordan and they hit it off straight away. Everything seemed to be going really well until one night, Jordan got a little aggressive in the bedroom and demanding, but Franco went with it and vowed to ask questions. He didn’t, scared of the answers and before he knew it, he was in a dom/sub relationship.

Franco couldn’t tell his parents about his relationship too start with as they were known not to be accepting of homosexuality, even if Franco was bisexual, they wouldn’t understand. It was when Franco came home at 25 with a large bruise on his arm and a smaller one on his face, questions were asked and he had too come clean. As expected, his parents did not react well and he found himself packing up and moving in with Jordan.

His parents kept very limited contact with him and mainly through this siblings who were still talking to him. Although they hated his decisions and wouldn’t let him live under the same roof, they didn’t want him to struggle so they still had money deposited into his bank account every other month to make sure he didn’t struggle.

When his relationship with Jordan began to break down, he looked for places he could go that he would be safe. He found The Institute and applied and, when he found out he’d been accepted, he finally called time on his relationship with Jordan. The man understoond but both of them were broken hearted and they cried as they said goodbye at the airport.

Franco left The Institute after he received a call to say one of his siblings had been taken poorly and they couldn’t understand what was wrong. He knew that he had to go home and see her in case he wouldn’t see her again.

His parents, as expected, didn’t give him the warmest welcome and went as far as to book him into a hotel for his stay so they wouldn’t be under the same roof. He knew that this for the best but it hurt him all the same and he vowed, the moment that he knew she was better, he would leave to go back to his studies.

At the times he was not seeing his sister or getting updates from his siblings, he was wondering around the Italian villages and taking photos. Collecting little gifts for people in case he ever needed them. He could remember the people of the island and he missed them, like an ache that filled his heart daily.

After six months, his sister was declare well enough to return home and for him, that meant he could leave and go back, ready to get the rest of his life on track.

➤ PERSONALITY

✚ Friendly, creative, loyal ▬ Jealous, overly-emotional, flighty

➤ ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS

None

➤ FACE CLAIM & OOC INFO

Franco's faceclaim is Drew Ray Tanner. // Chels, 29, She/Her, GMT

Could This Day Get Any Worse?

Hey everyone, guess who’s back from a hiatus! I hope y’all like this re/animat/or story!

Summary: Herbert was trying to make a new batch of reagent, But a mix up of ingredients makes him discover...something different 

Warnings: this story contains soft, safe vore, shrinking, fearplay,Digestion mentions (doesn’t happen), cursing 

Spoiler Warnings: this story contains spoilers for the movie re/ani/mator, so if you haven’t watched it, I’d recommend doing so! 

“Just one more drop” Herbert West spoke to himself as he held a dropper full of neon Blue liquid in his hand. He squeezed the dropper as carefully as possible, releasing the liquid in a beaker full of Yellow serum. Herbert watched as the colour of the two liquids combined created his Reagent, Bright Neon green.

Though His excitement at seeing his reagent distracted him when he stood up, not realizing that as he put down the dropper, a few more drops of the Blue liquid dripped into the beaker. He swiftly turned and made his way out of his Lab-Basement, taking off his gloves and placing them on a shelf. 

Dan Cain sat on his couch, his legs laying across in a relaxed way, he was reading a medical book, hoping that Dean Halsey would call any minute, saying he wasn’t a mindless zombie anymore and allowing him back in the school. It wasn’t fair that he was kicked out of the school because Herbert was crazy. 

It seemed that even thinking about the mad scientist made him appear, as Herbert swung the door open, making Dan jump at the loud noise. 

“I’ve finished the new batch” Herbert called, adjusting his glasses, without another word, he fled back into the basement, expecting Dan to follow. Dan just sighed, putting down his book and following the man down. 

As he got to the bottom of the stairs, Herbert was transferring the Reagent into a syringe, placing it on the table and looking up at Dan, with that mad smile of his. 

While the Reagents colour changed slightly, more blue than green, Herbert was too eager to notice.

“Get the handout of the Fridge” Herbert spoke, pointing to the mini fridge “I want to see what happens when we put the reagent into it” 

“West, this isn’t going to work” Dan looked almost annoyed but complied with Herbert’s wishes. “A hand doesn’t have a heart, brain or anything but muscle, veins and bone” 

Dan opened the fridge, his face paling  a bit at the sight of the severed hand in a medical bag. He couldn’t believe he was actually caught up in this mess. He grabbed the hand, which was in a plastic medical bag, walking back to Herbert, placing it on the table. 

“Yes it may not work, Dan,” Herbert picked the syringe back up, “But it doesn’t hurt to try, correct?” he flicked the syringe, letting a bit squirt out of the needle, testing to see if the syringe is working. Dan just sighed, letting the mad scientist do what he wants. 

Without looking up at dan, Herbert brought the syringe closer to Dan, “Hold this, I need to get the bag op-” 

“oW!” 

Herbert turned to Dan, surprised at the sound. It turned out that Dan was not paying attention as well, getting his arm  pricked with the syringe, some of the Reagent being injected into him. 

Herbert’s eyes went wide, pulling the syringe out, throwing it on the table. He grabbed onto Dans arm. 

“Shitshitshit!” Dan pulled his arm back “what the fuck is going to happen to me!” 

“I’m afraid don’t know!” Herbert shook his head “I never put it in a living person.” his voice was defeated, almost horrified at his own actions. 

Dan paled even more, anything could happen to him, he could spontaneously combust, melt, or just die! He panicked, freezing up. Herbert just stared at Dan, watching the man silently panic about his own demise. 

Dans head began to spin, it started very slow, but began making him dizzier and dizzier as it got faster. His vision became very blurry, and his brain felt like it was about to explode, Dan held his head in pain, hoping that what he had was just a migraine, and not anything worse. 

Herbert stared at Dan, who seemed to be getting ...Herbert shook his head, double taking. He's not really….

“Dan….” Herbert spoke, his voice cracking out of pure shock “are you getting...smaller?” 

Dan opened his eyes, wanting to give Herbert an angry look, but noticed he wasn't looking down at Herbert anymore, but eye level with the man, he looked down at himself, he almost felt sick 

“What...What’s happening to me?!” 

Herbert just silently watched in disbelief as his friend shrunk down more and more, he yelled loudly, trying to get Herbert to do anything!

When Dan finally stopped shrinking, the pounding in his head stopped as well. His breath was heavy, he held himself, shaking slightly. 

Herbert slowly crouched down to Dan, his eyes not leaving the tiny figure He was so… small! Herbert could hold him in his hand!

Dan Looked back up at Herbert, backing up slightly. Lucky him he was stuck with a Mad Scientist, who knows what Herbert wanted to do with him

But Herbert wasn’t thinking about that now, all he cared about was his friend, who he had shrunk. “Dan, Are you alright” 

“Alright…” Dan repeated quietly, just loud enough for Herbert to hear, his blood began to boil at the question. “Alright?! You're asking me if I’m alright?!”

“Come on Dan-” Herbert tried calming the angry man down, but Dan didn’t stop. 

“I’m three inches tall West! What do you think?!” Dan flinched back as Herbert held a hand up, trying to silence the man, but scaring him in the process. 

“All I was asking was if you feel alright, I understand you’re not physically well.” Herbert put his hand down, shocked at the panicked look Dan was giving him “You know Dan, this was a complete accident, and I have no intention of hurting you.” 

His voice remained very calm, like when Dan would calm down Megan, but on the inside, his mind was racing, he just discovered a shrinking agent, as well as a reagent, and he had no idea how he did it!

Dan huffed, calming slightly, not enough to calm completely though. “I feel...fine. I felt dizzy before hand, but now I feel like I felt before.” 

Herbert smiled slightly, “good” he looked between the table and Dan, carefully placing his hand near Dan, palm up. “Do you mind?” 

Dan backed up, seeing Herbert placing his hand down near him, staring at the Scientists palm. He looked back up at Herbert, who was just patiently waiting. 

“What are you gonna do?” He didn’t mean to make it sound so hostile, but he was just so small, and anything at this point could hurt him. 

“I’m just going to the table Dan, it’s not that big of a deal, I may be a Scientist, but I would never do anything to hurt my friend.” 

 Dan hesitated for a few moments longer, and Herbert allowed him to take all the time he needed. Finally, Dan made his way to Herbert’s hand, carefully climbing on top of it. 

Herbert smiled, then stood up, using his other hand as a shield so Dan couldn’t possibly fall off. Dan held Herbert’s hand tightly, shivering at the air flying past him, he didn't dare look down, he didn’t want to be reminded that a two foot drop for him before is now a 20 foot drop. 

When Herbert placed his hand on the table, Dan scrambled off of it, wanting to be more secure. 

“The reagent must’ve been wrong, not the correct measurements of ingredients” as Herbert spoke, his eyes trailed over to the dropper he had left, noticing it was leaking the blue liquid. His eyes went wide. “I created a Shrinking agent.” he smiled slightly. “Dr. Gruber would be impressed, wouldn’t he?” 

Dan just nodded, staring at the puddle as well. “You better know how to fix me” he laughed, clearly trying to hide the confusion and anxiety in his voice.

Herbert turned his head back to Dan “I’ll start an antidote as soon as possible Dan, you won’t stay like this forever” 

Dan walked over to the Scientist “Y-You better, or I’ll…” 

Herbert grinned, “you’ll what? Pull out an arm hair? Bite me? Sorry to tell you this Dan, but you’re a bit powerless right now.” his grin faded, seeing how Dan reacted. 

Dan frowned, offended at the comment, he knew it was true, he was pretty helpless in this situation, but being painfully aware of it wasn’t helping his mental state. 

“Don’t look like that” Herbert shook his head slightly “I’m sure there's things you can do. You can always test your strength.” 

“How am I supposed to do that?” Dan asked, tilting his head, intrigued. 

Herbert reached for a Pencil on the other side of the table, placing it in front of the shrunken man. Instinctively, Dan backed up. 

“Pick it up.” 

“Why.” 

“You want to see how strong you are, correct?” 

Dan sighed loudly, knowing that if he couldn’t pick it up, Herbert would laugh at him, but he didn’t want the Scientist to push him to do it more. 

Without another word, Dan gripped the giant pencil, pulling it up. He struggled a bit as he did so but got it off the ground. Dan smiled at the success.

Herbert watched, joining Dan in smiling. He was proud of the young doctor. 

Dan, about to gloat about how he wasn’t helpless, soon realized, he wasn’t holding the pencil at an equal length, and he was tipping over. Dan tried balancing the pencil out, but as he did so, he moved closer and closer to the ledge

Herbert only realized when it was too late, Dans foot slipping, the man crying out before letting go of the pencil and falling off the edge.

“Dan!” Herbert yelled, attempting to catch the freefalling man, only for him to slip through his fingers. 

Dan yelled, terrified of the inevitable, when he hit the ground, he would splatter. 

But the so called ‘inevitable’ never came.

Dan hit the ground hard, he layer frozen for a couple of seconds, enough for Herbert to freak out, yelling out angrily, that he allowed this to happen. 

Dan opened his eyes, surprised he was still alive, he moved his fingers, and he still had feeling, he just couldn’t feel any pain. He was sure that he should be dead, but he clearly wasn’t 

“My god…” Herbert whispered, seeing Dan still moving, his eyes were wide. 

Dan sat up slowly, feeling the rest of his body, not a bruise forming, much less a broken bone anywhere. 

“I’m… Fine.” Dan laughed, horrified and in shock. “I’m fine! Powerless my ass” 

“Not a scratch…fascinating.” Herbert held his hand out to dan, who climbed on eagerly. Herbert stood up, placing dan back on the table. “Your body must be condensed enough that you can’t be hurt as easily as we do.” 

Dan was about to ask more questions, but he was cut off by a pounding on the door, making the two men turn their heads. 

“Mr. West.” the voice was none other than Dr. Hill, Herbert could tell from anywhere. There was more pounding on the door, Herbert was thankful it was closed. 

“Shit…” Dan spoke “what do we do.” 

“He won’t leave on his own, he’s too stubborn, or idiotic.” Herbert sighed “You need to hide...now.” 

Dan felt his heart drop as Herbert spoke this, all the emotion he had was replaced with a serious, stern look. Herbert began grabbing all the Reagent, and the shrinking serum, putting it in a cabinet and locking it tight.

“If Hill finds you, who knows what he’d do.”  Herbert spoke Dr. Hills name like it was poisonous to hear. He treated it like a slur, embarrassed he would even speak the plagiarists name. 

“There's nowhere to hide West!” Dan refused to hide below the table, or in a cabinet, the basement was dingy and dirty, who knows what kind of rodents or bugs lived down here. 

As Herbert thought, a lightbulb went off in his head. His eyes lit up at the thought. He could just… put Dan in his mouth, which also allowed him not to speak to Dr. Hill, so...win win? 

Dan paused, seeing a familiar look in Herbert’s eye, he had a sinking feeling. “What?” 

“Well if you’re willing to hear me out,” Herbert began, making Dan groan. He knew it was one of the Scientists schemes again, “If I put you in my mouth…” 

Dan wasn’t prepared for those words; he knew he didn’t mishear him. “You… WHAT?!” Dan backed up instantaneously, he knew Herbert was wild, but this? Outright insane!

“Now hold on.” Herbert shushed the tiny, hearing the banging on the door became louder. “If you hide there, Hill won’t find you, I don't have to speak to him. We both get what we want” 

“You could bite me in half!” Dan yelled, the thought of Herbert doing that was enough to make him sick 

“Human teeth aren't razor sharp, Dan” Herbert spoke, almost pleading, “it would take force to Bifurcate your body, I wouldn’t ever do that.” Herbert held his hand out “We don’t have a lot of options, not to mention we don’t have a lot of time.” 

Dan hesitated for a few moments, trying to think of a better option, but the calling from the top of the stairs and the banging was making him panic even more.

“You better be right, West” Dan moved to the hand, shaking profusely, he was about to be put in his friends’ mouth, and if he was found by Dr. Hill, could be taken away. 

Herbert sighed in relief, glad that Dan came around to the idea, he lifted his hand, once again using his other hand as a shield. “Don’t move when inside, I don’t want to give this away.” 

Dan just nodded, not saying a word, hoping this plan wasn’t going to go wrong. 

Herbert brought Dan to his mouth, his breath blowing on the shrunken man, Dan was grateful it didn’t smell bad. Herbert carefully wrapped his index and thumb around Dan, lifting him up, still holding his other hand below the tiny man. 

Dan watched Herbert like a deer in the headlights, only slightly reacting when the Man opened his mouth. Dan gripped the fingers holding him tightly, taking deep breaths. He cringed as Herbert placed him on his tongue. His clothes almost instantly soaked in saliva. 

Herbert Closed his mouth, moving Dan carefully with his tongue, he felt the man move a bit, probably protesting, and he stifled a laugh. Herbert moved to a mirror, checking if he looked out of the ordinary. As he did this, the man noticed something strange…

Dan tasted pretty good, not how he expected at all, he had expected it to be weird, terrible even, but the man’s taste was almost enough to make him salivate. 

No no no, don’t you dare Herbert West, you are not going to think about eating your only friend….

Dan lied on the wet tongue, trying to keep himself calm. He kept his head down, not wanting to look at the dark throat that was before him. But even if he wasn’t looking at it, his mind continued to wander. 

I could fit down that, if Herbert isn’t careful I could….no no don’t think of that, it's not possible, it can’t be possible, he would choke before I could get in… don’t think about that...god don’t think about that!

The scientist smiled, it didn’t even look like he had anything in his mouth, much less a person! Herbert turned, walking up the stairs, taking a deep breath to calm himself. 

Its now or nothing. Herbert unlocked the door, swinging it open. 

Dr. Hill stared at the shorter scientist, if looks could kill, Herbert would be dead where he stood. Herbert sent a glare back, turning away from the plagiarist, heading down the stairs. 

Dr. Hill quickly composed himself, following Herbert down. “ Good Evening, Mr. West.”  He hissed at the young scientist, “I would like to speak with you on an important matter.” 

When Herbert didn't respond, Dr. Hill got more intense “I want to know about Dean Halsey, his heart rate is erratic, and his pulse is nowhere to be found.”

Herbert paused, his heartbeat quickening at the mention of Dean Halsey. He had hoped Dr. Hill would have mis-diagnosed him by now. 

Dan tried to listen as best as he could, but it was hard over Herbert’s heartbeat and his breathing, not to mention the wet noises he made on the man's tongue, he let out a quiet groan, hoping the interaction would end as soon as possible. 

Herbert gave Dr. Hill a look of confusion, but still refused to talk to the man. He would give anything to yell at the man to leave, that he knew nothing of what happened to Halsey and get Hill as far away from the house as possible. 

“My question is.” Dr. Hill paused, his eye twitching at the utter disrespect. “How does he yell out in pain, when we both know, he’s very much dead” 

Herbert’s Heart skipped a beat. No, no, no…. This can’t be happening…not now… not with dan here...

Dr. Hill laughed, seeing Herbert’s face turn from an annoyed to a scared expression. “Cat got your tongue Mr. West?” Dr. Hill came closer to Herbert, making the young scientist back down a bit. “Where is it, West?”” 

Herbert pinned Dan to the roof of his mouth, swallowing the excess saliva,  not wanting to drown Dan. As much as he wanted to cuss the Plagiarist out, he knew he couldn't without outing Dans hiding spot. 

“Where is the Reagent, Herbert.” Dr. Hill grabbed Herbert by his shirt, pulling him closer “I know you have it!”

Oh god Herbert get away from him. Dan thought, his heart almost pounding out of his chest. He felt Herbert tilt his head down, keeping his face away from Dr. Hill. 

“Answer me, dammit” Hill shook Herbert back and forth, who just took it, not making a single noise. 

I’m sorry Dan, Herbert thought to himself, knowing what he was going through must’ve been worse for his shrunken friend. 

“Fine! Have it your way!” Dr. Hill, who finally gave up on Herbert, Pushed the man down to the floor. He turned back to the stairs “Don’t think this is the end of It West!” 

 Herbert’s head hit the concrete floor, making himself swallow instinctively, the pounding in his head from the impact made it so he couldn’t even notice he was swallowing his friend. 

Dan felt the impact just as much as it was, he who was falling down, the impact making him slip back a bit, so it took him a moment to realize that Herbert had swallowed. 

That was until he felt the throat muscles begin to massage him into it. 

“West!” Dan Yelled, his body being pulled down into the hungry throat, legs first. “West! Please! Stop!” Dan clawed at the man's tongue, trying to hang on the best he could but, it proved to be too slippery to aid him in his escape. 

He was on a one-way ticket down Herbert West's gullet. 

As Herbert finally came to, he heard the front door slam, meaning Dr. Hill had left. It made him giggle, the thought of how angry Dr. Hill was because of him brought joy to the man. Without thinking, he swallowed again, feeling a strange lump in his throat. 

Herbert let out a sigh of relief, he was worried for a minute that Dr. Hill would have found Dan in his mouth… 

He finally realized his mouth was empty, and he was sure he kept it closed as he fell. The pieces began to click into place 

Dan ... the strange lump… it was.

“Caine!” Herbert yelled, grabbing his throat, feeling the last of the man move down into his esophagus. 

Dan heard Herbert’s call to him, and his heart rate speed up, more than before, he yelled back to Herbert, pleading for the man to get him out. 

Herbert cringed at the feeling of Dan fighting and  sliding down his esophagus, it didn’t hurt, but knowing it was happening made him hyperfocus on every single detail.

It felt even weirder when Dan landed in his stomach. 

“West!” Dan yelled as he entered the scientist's stomach. No this can’t be happening, shit! Dan pushed on the stomach walls surrounding him, “West let me out!” 

Herbert looked down at his stomach, horrified that he could actually SEE Dans movement. He put a hand to his head, what was he going to do?

“Caine stay calm!” Herbert spoke, even though he knew it was no use, the man wasn’t going to calm down “I can’t get you out if you’re squirming like that!”  He placed his other hand on his stomach. 

“calm ? you want me to be CALM?!’  Herbert winced, feeling Dan kick him, very hard. “How can you tell me to be calm?! You ATE me Herbert! I could be dead in minutes! Let! Me! Out”  Dan pushed against the organ surrounding him. 

Throughout all the man's yelling, a lightbulb went off in Herbert’s head. Dan should’ve started digesting by now, he was in there for a few minutes, something should have at least begun to tingle by now. 

His mind went back to dan falling off the table, he survived that with no damage left behind. Could this be the same case? If the serum condensed his molecules like Herbert theorized, that would mean Dan was too dense to digest, which meant he wouldn’t be hurt! 

“Dan” Herbert spoke, feeling quite awkward speaking out loud to his stomach, “I need you to answer something for me” he could feel the tiny man squirm in confusion “Do you feel any pain, or even anything wrong overall?!” 

Dan was about to start yelling once again, Dan's life was in danger, and Herbert was playing games with him. But then, Herbert’s words registered in his mind.  If anything felt wrong, I can list 200 things that feel wrong right now. 

But the more he thought about it, he realized. He felt hot, wet and disgusted by all of this, but he didn’t feel any pain. 

Dan looked down at the small pool of liquid that he was sitting in, he thought the reason he couldn’t feel anything was because of his clothes, but clearly that wasn’t the case.  He pulled up his pant leg, expecting it to be bubbly and a bit digested. 

There was nothing. His leg looked completely fine. He even stared at it for a few moments, waiting for it to start burning, but…

“Dan? Dan are you okay” Herbert’s heart skipped a beat, not getting any reply from his friend, “Dan?” Herbert pushed on his stomach, directly where Dan was. He felt the shrunken man squirm around, and it almost made Herbert laugh. 

“Nothing” Dan called up, confusing Herbert “Oh my god I feel nothing!” 

Herbert’s eyes widen, a smile forms on his lips.

“I was right!” he stood up, grabbing the pencil from before, “You’re not digesting! And you probably never will!” the man stood up. 

Dan flinched and the sudden movement, the stomach sloshing him around with every step Herbert made “What?!” 

 “the serum made you indestructible! No matter how hard my body tries, it can’t digest you!”

He took the pencil, grabbed his notebook, and began writing his discovery down, laughing out of pure ecstasy. 

“I don’t believe it...How is this even possible?!” 

“Jesus Christ Dan, we bring people back from the dead and you don’t believe this?!” Herbert patted his stomach “this is fantastic! If Dr. Gruber could see us now…”  

Dan let out a yelp at Herbert’s response, pushing back at his hand “don’t do that! Its already bad enough that I’m in here, you don’t need to patronize me!” 

“Can’t you see Dan; this could change the world as we know it!” Herbert spoke, ignoring the tone in Dans voice. He ran to the cabinet, grabbing both of the bottles he had hid “these two serums throw out everything we know about the human body and what it's capable of!” 

Herbert continued to write down his notes as he spoke, writing the formula for his new shrinking serum “ doctors wouldn't be able to make a mistake if the can see things regular sized people wouldn't, and we wouldn’t have to worry about overpopulation either!” 

As he was blathering on, he felt a hard punch to his liver, knocking him down on the spot, he held his stomach, shocked that Dan would do such a thing. 

Dan gasped as he too felt the impact of the fall, he had no idea that would be the reaction he had caused, but in some way, he believed Herbert did deserve it, after all, Herbert shrunk and ate him!

Now having Herbert’s full attention, Dan spoke loudly “Well that’s all fine and well but I think you’re missing one great detail… I’m still in here!” 

Herbert rubbed his sore belly, “Right… Of course,” he felt a bit of guilt, he had almost forgotten that Dan was even in there… it became weirdly normal to him. “I got a bit ahead of myself” 

“A bit?” Dan replied sarcastically. 

Herbert stood up, still holding his stomach. The man sighed,  how am I supposed to do this?! He thought to himself, throwing up might make him suffocate, I am not going to cut him out, definitely not. 

Dan yelped as the stomach walls around him began to squish him, tightening so much that he could barely move. Out of instinct, Dan squirmed, kicked and began yelling “West?! West! What the hell is going on?!” 

Herbert Winced at Dans movement, he was pushing with both hands on his stomach, trying to forcefully push Dan up into his esophagus, after a few moments, he gave up, letting go of his stomach, falling into a coughing fit. 

“Herbert?!” Dan yelled once more; he had stopped flailing once the walls around him loosened. 

Herbert finally caught his breath, “that didn’t work.” he could hear Dan laugh at him, of course it wouldn’t work. “Maybe if we try-” 

Herbert’s thought was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, making the two men freeze in their places. 

Not Again Herbert turned, grabbing the bottles of serum and hiding them in the cabinet once more, this time with his notebook. If that plagiarism is back, I am going to get rid of him… Dr. Gruber would like that. 

Dan listened to Herbert’s heartbeat as it sped up. Yes, Herbert seemed like a confident man, but on the inside, he was nervous, the fact that it could not be Dr. Hill worried him even more, it could be the police, or just a random man who heard all the commotion. 

“It would be a bad idea if you don’t answer, it would seem suspicious.” Dan spoke, leaning against the wall “I’ll stay quiet, go answer the door.” 

Dan laughed, but he didn’t feel any joy. Why did people have to show up today?! Why couldn’t it be sometime else, when he wasn’t in this situation.

West nodded, fixing himself up as he climbed the stairs, he took a deep breath, patting his stomach one last time. Dan sighed, patting back, he knew Herbert was panicking, he could hear it all around him.

Herbert stopped in his tracks, he wasn’t prepared for that. It actually felt nice, as Herbert thought, he realized that when neither of them were freaking out, this actually felt quite pleasant.

Herbert heard the doorbell once more, bringing him out of his thoughts, he opened the door to the Living room, then marched to the front door, the basement door closing behind him. 

Herbert grabbed the Knob, twisting it as he spoke “one ring is quite enough” as the door swung open, Herbert’s eyes widened. 

Megan stood there, her eyes a bit puffy, her face red either from crying or from just plain anger, she gave Herbert one look, before pushing past him inside. 

She looked around the living room “Where’s Dan” she spoke, her words filled with anger. “We need to talk right now” 

Herbert sighed, “Miss Halsey I don’t have a clue where he would be.” he shut the door, crossing his arms. While he wasn’t a fan of Meg, he knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

Dans heart stopped as he heard Megan's name, he gently pushed his head on the wall in an attempt to hear their conversation through the layers of muscle, fat tissue and skin. While it was still slightly muffled, he could hear exactly what they were saying.

Meg moved from room to room, looking for Dan, Herbert watched, stifling laughter as he knew her searching wouldn’t help. She looked back at the Scientist standing by the door, glaring at his face, he gave an amused expression, like he knew something she didn’t.

And he did know something that she didn’t. 

Her eyes turned to the basement door, Herbert shook his head, quickly moving in front of it before she made it to the knob. “Miss Halsey he isn’t here.” Herbert spoke more sternly, but it didn’t phase her, she just put her hand up to silence him. 

Her eyes were staring into him, that answer was not good enough for her. “Fine…” She said, quieter “Then what did you do to him.” 

Herbert was taken aback for her words, “Excuse me?!” 

“You did something to him, you killed him didn’t you?!” her voice cracked as if she was about to cry, she glared daggers into the man before her and tears threatened her eyes “Just like Rufus you did something to him!” 

She tried pushing Herbert away from the door, but he didn’t move, he just kept staring, shocked at the accusations she was throwing out. 

“Meg I’m okay…” Dan spoke, quiet enough that Herbert couldn’t even hear. His heart ached, her father was just reanimated into an insane creature, and now she thought he was gone too? He wanted to call out to her and promise her everything would be okay, but he knew things would get a whole lot worse if he exposed himself. Dan sighed, could this day get any worse?!

Herbert’s eyes narrowed, he glared right back at Meg, making her shrink back a bit. For all she knew, she was challenging a serial killer. 

“Miss Halsey” She took a step back, and he took a step forward “if you are accusing me of doing anything to Dan, I assure you that--” 

“Not Dan!” She yelled, her look changing to a confused expression, she couldn’t keep herself composed anymore “What did you do to my Father!” 

Herbert blinked, surprised. “Is that it?” 

“What did you do?!” She yelled even louder “he’s… he’s grey, constantly spitting up blood, he looks like a… Like a…” She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t want what she was thinking to be true. 

“A corpse.” Herbert finished her sentence, as if he was reading her mind. All she did was stare back at him “We did all we could do for now. I can explain it all to you” Herbert turned, gesturing to the basement, then looked back at her “I can explain everything, Dean Halsey, the cat, Dan.” 

Meg was almost like a statue, she didn’t know what to do, this could be a trap, she didn’t know what was in her, but she nodded, watching Herbert open the door quickly, motioning for her to follow. 

She just followed. 

Herbert lead her to the basement, she cautiously followed behind him, her eyes frantically checking every which way to see if it was a bad idea, her gut was telling her to run, but she just needed to know what the hell was going on. 

West felt a small kick from Dan, who was clearly unhappy with the current situation. 

She’s not ready… she won’t be able to handle this. Dan thought as he pushed and pounded on the stomach walls in protest. Even though he was still unsure of all the crazy things Herbert would do, what the hell was the scientist thinking?

Herbert pulled out the stool, motioning to her to sit down. Meg hesitated at first, but sat down without another word. 

Herbert put up his hand in a ‘one moment’ gesture, before turning around, and walking over to the other side of the room, unlocking the cabinet, grabbing his notebook, and the two bottles of serum. 

As he did this, there was another kick, he groaned slightly, while they didn’t hurt, they were still annoying as hell. 

“Herbert!?” the muffled sound of Dans voice called to him, luckily too muffled for Meg to hear, “What the hell are you doing, West?!” 

Herbert responded, decided that it was a safe bet to speak, if he was quiet enough, “trust me, we couldn’t keep this from her much longer, she already knew about Dean Halsey, it was only a matter of time until she knew about everything.” 

“You’re not gonna tell her I’m in here, you can’t” Dan looked around in the darkness, if she knew he was in here, that would send her over the deep end! Dan took a deep breath, attempting to speak in a calmer tone “Get me out of here first West. She’ll trust me more than you” 

“I won’t tell her if it’s not necessary” Herbert scoffed at dans words “She’ll believe a two inch person? She’ll faint upon seeing you!” he hushed the tiny person in his stomach. 

Meg just watched as Herbert had a single sided conversation with himself, her eyes were wide and her face was full of unease, did she really allow herself to walk into the layer of a crazy mad scientist? She just stayed silent and watched him, in fear of calling him out for his actions. 

Herbert finally stood up with the book and bottles in his hands, ignoring the pushing and prodding from Dan, who had stopped speaking as soon as the mad got up. He walked to the table, placing the things down in front of her. He stood on the other side of the table, Meg just looked at the bottles...then back at him….then back at the bottles.

She finally noticed the bright glowing reagent, which she instantly recognized. “That's the stuff that was in the fridge when Rufus was--” 

“Yes, Miss Halsey. It's also the thing that brought that beast of a cat back to life” he spoke, not even easing his way through the discovery. Meg just gave him a disbelieving look, like she was surprised that he was even trying to convince her. “Do you remember when you barged into the basement, Dan and I were there, and the cat was alive!” 

Meg's heart dropped, she did remember that day, she remembered that Rufus was found in Herbert’s fridge, and how she came downstairs, and he was alive, mangled up, she couldn’t get the memory out of her head. 

She didn’t like where this was going, this couldn’t be true, death couldn’t be defeated, he must have fooled her somehow “He… He couldn’t have been dead, we must’ve been wrong somehow” 

Herbert scoffed, rolling his eyes “You and Dan sound like twins, both of you don’t want to believe what’s in front of your eyes!” he hit his fist on the table out of frustration, making meg and Dan jump “The cat was dead, so was the body in the morgue, but I brought them back!” 

Dan turned to face the stomach wall “Herbert STOP!” he yelled as loud as he could. He immediately covered his mouth, he didn’t mean to do it, he lost control of himself. Herbert was being too forceful. 

Meg, hearing the yell, shot up like a bullet. “What was that?!” she looked around the room, she was sure she heard Dans voice, but it was quiet and muffled, like he was hiding somewhere far away. 

Herbert turned a bright red, his eyes basically bulging out of his head, he grabbed his stomach out of horror, he could feel Dan had gone still, very still. This was not good. 

He moved his hand until he could feel Dans whole body, and he pushed in slightly, did the man pass out? Hopefully that's the worst that could happen. He ignored Meg for a moment, he tried to feel anything, a twitch, a slight hand movement…. 

Breathing…. He could feel Dan breathing, his chest going up and down rapidly, clearly the poor man was terrified of what he did.

It's okay Dan…. Herbert thought,  It’s going to be okay…. I need to write this down.

He turned his attention back to Meg, who was still looking around, not paying attention to him at all “I… I didn’t hear anything” Herbert turned away, grabbing a pencil and his notebook, writing as quickly as possible. “You should sit back down.” 

“What's going on?!” She yelled “I can’t do this anymore, West! What the hell is going on?! I heard something!” she put her hands on her head “You say you bring things back from the dead and you just expect me to believe this with no proof?! I’m no idiot, and you won’t fool me like one!” 

“Well I’m sorry I don’t have a corpse to convince you, but it’s true.” Herbert sighed loudly, holding the bridge of his nose, “Dean Hasley was enough for Hill, but not enough for you” Herbert spoke softer, as if he was talking to himself instead of her. 

When he looked back up at her, he saw those angry misty eyes once more, she was holding it back, but clearly that comment hit her pretty hard. She quickly wiped her eyes 

“Can you fix him?” she didn’t ask, it was more of a plea, she just wanted her father back. 

“That's what I’m trying to develop.” 

She looked back at the table “Is that what this is?” she dropped her tone, trying to reason with the scientist, she pointed to the Shrinking serum, glowing softly. 

Herbert shook his head “it's a shrinking agent, I made it this evening.” she cocked her head to the side, but before she could ask a question, Herbert continued, “it was an accident, its fascinating what I’ve found out about it in a few hours. While it shrinks people to only a few inches, it makes them virtually indestructible, here, ready my note-- Miss Halsey are you alright?” he paused, seeing her face.  

She stared at Herbert with a disbelieving gaze, but her brain was putting the pieces together. “How do you know all of this…” her voice trailed off as she spoke “to know these things you would have to use that on someone. 

Herbert shrugged, putting his hands up in a “you got me” motion “we’re asking where Dan was, weren’t you Miss Halsey.” 

Dan panicked, he was shaking badly, anxiety flowing through his body like it was his own blood. He didn’t know what to do, should he call out to her, tell her he’s fine? But what would her reaction be… would she call the cops? 

What would she tell the cops? Does this count as cannibalism? Attempted murder? Even though he wasn’t really happy about being inside of Herbert, at least he was completely safe, and the longer he was in here, the less afraid he was,

Meg didn’t speak for a few moments, then her eyes narrowed, her voice was low, but definitely not calm, “you must think I’m so stupid”  she almost expected this trick from Herbert, but why would Dan do this to her? This wasn’t funny, this was downright cruel. “I’m not going to believe this stupid joke you two are playing.” 

Herbert sighed, he had hoped he could get through to her, he shook his head “I assure you that I’m not joking, I promise you.” he tried talking her down, using a calmer voice. 

“Oh yeah?” She nodded, crossing her arms “then where is he, where's my shrunken boyfriend Herbert?” 

Herbert looked away, his face turning a bit red “I can’t tell you, you won’t believe me”  he placed his hand back on his stomach, he could feel Dan shaking profusely, moving around. 

Meg glared, moving to the table and grabbing the bottle, she couldn’t hold her anger back, she too was shaking, but not because she was afraid. “So this is supposed to shrink me, huh? You really are nuts goddamnit….nuts” 

Herbert’s eyes widened as she picked it up “put that down!” he frantically spoke “ you have no idea how powerful that is, hell, even I don’t know everything about it!” 

She let out an angry scoff, putting it down, “prove it, prove how powerful it is.” She turned around, holding both of her hands “You’re crazy, Herbert. I get why my father kicked you out of Miskatonic… and why Gruber didn’t want you around” 

Herbert’s face turned red, “You want proof, I’ll give you proof” he was overwhelmed, he couldn't think about if it was a good idea or not, but he was going with it anyways.

Herbert grabbed a spare syringe, sticking it into the bottle, putting a tiny bit of the serum into it. He could feel push on his stomach, worried and confused. But as he heard what Herbert was saying, his stomach dropped. He knew what Herbert was thinking of doing. 

“Herbert! Don't you dare do this!” his plea fell of deaf ears, so he resorted to kicking, calling out to Herbert. 

Herbert moved over to Meg, carefully holding the needle. “Here's your proof.” he spoke matter of factly. 

Meg turned around, ready to cuss Herbert out, but she was met with a needle gently being pushed into her arm, she yelled in shock, pushing the man away, but not quick enough, the serum going into her veins. 

She backed up “What the hell is wrong….with...you?” she started to feel dizzier and dizzier with each word she spoke, her last one making her fall forward, Herbert catching her. He picked her body up, it shrinking in his hands, and he placed her onto the table carefully, letting the serum do what it did best. 

“Dan, I’m sorry she didn’t want to listen to me. Maybe she’ll listen to you” 

“Herbert don’t! If you even think about eating---” 

“I don’t want to do this dan!” Herbert yelled, holding his stomach “She didn’t listen to me, if I had told her that I ate you, she would probably run, if she ended up believing me, she would tell as soon as possible, she trusts you more than me. If I can get through to her without swallowing her, then I won’t.” 

“But Herbert don’t you--” 

“I’ll try to explain, But if she doesn’t listen, she’ll have to talk with you, deal?” Herbert leaned his arms on the table, watching as she shrunk down to the same height as Dan, maybe even a bit shorter.

Dan wanted to retaliate, tell him that's not how it's going to happen, but he knew Herbert would not listen to him. “Deal. be careful with her, I love her” 

Herbert rolled his eyes, “of course Dan.” 

Meg covered her eyes, the lights above her burning them. Her head stopped spinning, and she felt overall okay, like nothing had happened. She slowly sat up, her eyes adjusting to the light around her. 

She scanned her surroundings, she had no idea how she got there and where she was, everything looked the same, only much...much bigger. 

“How’s this for proof, Miss Halsey” 

His voice sent a shiver down her spine, it was so much louder than before, Herbert laughed softly at her reaction, it was like the air around her was vibrating. This felt like a dream to Meg, she slowly turned around to see Herbert, but she was met with a white collared shirt. Her head slowly turned upwards, finally meeting his eyes. 

A giant….Herbert was giant…no… no she was tiny!

She wanted to scream, but it felt like all of her energy was taken away from her in that very moment, Herbert had a concerned, yet amused expression on his face. 

“Megan” he finally spoke her name, which felt weird for him to be so informal “you’re alright, I’m not going to hurt you.” 

“Y-you…” She tried to speak, but the right words wouldn’t come to her, Herbert wasn’t lying like she had thought, which meant ....”Dan?” it didn’t sound like a question, but Herbert knew she was asking what happened to him. 

“Everything I said was true, Dan being alright is no exception.” Herbert smiled ever so slightly, trying to make her feel more comfortable. 

“Where is he?” she asked, looking around, but keeping Herbert in her peripheral. Herbert watched as she did this, trying to think of what to say. 

“Well…” Herbert rubbed the back of his neck, he could feel Dan freeze up, he didn’t know what to say either. “I don’t know how to say this lightly, but he’s...in me” 

Meg gave Herbert a confused look, like she wasn’t understanding what he was saying. Putting it lightly was not going to work. 

Herbert placed a hand on his stomach, keeping eye contact with Meg.  “I swallowed him” 

That did the trick. 

Her heart skipped a beat as he spoke those words, she stood right up, backing up slowly “You… you WHAT?! “ She yelled, then covered her mouth in shock, this couldn’t be true, Herbert wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t do that. 

“It was an accident, long story short I was trying to hide him from Dr. Hill, and he slipped into my throat.” he saw the sickly look on Meg's face and continued “He’s okay, I promise you this. There's not a scratch on him” 

She didn’t want to believe it, but it made sense, she did her Dans voice, and it was muffled, like he was behind something. Her boyfriend was trying to warn her, trying to get her out of there. This was all a ploy to get her vulnerable like this, she must be next. 

Before Herbert could speak another word, Meg turned around, running as fast as she could. She didn’t care if she ended up falling off the edge, there would be better than where she was now. 

Herbert sighed, watching the woman run across the table, he reached over carefully, placing his hand in front of her, she ran right into the leathery surface. 

Before she could move around his hands, Herbert scooped her up, using his other hand as a safety net below so she wouldn’t fall...even though it would be fine even if she did. 

Megan moved around, trying to get out of his grip, but every time she was close to the edge, Herbert would just simply cup his hand even more so she wouldn’t be able to escape. 

“Listen to me Miss Halsey” Herbert spoke “I know this is hard to believe, but you’re going to be okay, so is Dan. We’ll do everything we can to help your father”  

His words were not registering in her head, she didn’t want to listen, her body wouldn’t allow her to. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and her body was in fight or flight mode. 

Herbert watched her, he made a disappointed noise, “Dan?” he called, sounding defeated. This made Meg stop, hearing that name. 

Dan’s ears perked up hearing his name, “Herbert?!” he couldn’t hear much of what was going on, only hearing Herbert’s side of the conversation, he had hoped that the man had gotten through to her and he wasn’t going to eat her after all. 

Meg felt sick to her stomach hearing Dan’s voice coming from Herbert’s middle

“Look out, you’re about to get company” 

Meg’s eyes shot up as Herbert spoke “no…” she crawled in between the man's fingers trying to get away as fast as she could. 

Herbert just sighed loudly, grabbing her with his free hand, and picking her up gently, she pushed at his fingers, trying to get him to drop her. It was no use unfortunately, she was bound to get eaten, her fighting must’ve been amusing for Herbert. 

“Please!” she yelled as he rose her up, holding her by her shirt, leaving the rest of her to flail around “Please if you let Dan and I go, I promise we’ll never tell a soul” 

“You won’t tell?” Herbert brought her closer, she nodded profusely “well that’s a relief”  Meg smiled, she finally got through to the man, that smile faded as soon as he rose her higher, lifting his chin with her. She kept kicking, grabbing at his fingers, he showed no signs of stopping. 

Herbert’s mind was racing, he had hoped that this was going to be as easy as Dan, but the chances were low. Sure, she had a much smaller frame than Dan, in that way she would go down easier, but she was terrified, she would fight, and it would hurt, but he didn’t see a better option. 

Herbert slowly opened his mouth, holding her just above it. She flailed and kicked as much as she could, tears threatened her eyes, and she was not going to hold them back. “Damn you Herbert West!” 

She kept yelling obscenities as he lowered her into his mouth, letting go once he was halfway inside, she fell onto the tongue with a soft squishing noise, he quickly closed his mouth, his teeth clacking softly shut, isolating her in his mouth, away from the rest of the world. 

Megan pushed against his tongue, which got her, and her clothes almost completely soaked with one movement.

 Herbert rolled his tongue around her, trying to get her as slick as possible so it would be easier on his throat. As he did this, he noticed that Meg had her own taste as well. It wasn’t like Dans, but it was still pretty great, he could get used to this, minus the fear and struggling. Herbert felt his stomach growl, now that he was thinking about it, it felt nice to have Dan inside, feeling so full. 

All Dan could do was sit, carefully awaiting Megan's arrival. He could barely hear anything over Herbert’s stomach, it was practically cheering the man on, gurgling loudly and happily. He wondered if Herbert was enjoying this as much as his stomach was. 

Herbert cringed as Meg kicked his teeth, not strong enough to break them, but enough for it to hurt like hell. She was making this as hard as she could, which was working. Herbert would attempt to pin her to the roof of his mouth, but she would easily wriggle out of his grip. 

Finally, he had enough, he tilted his head as high as he could, swallowing as hard as he could. 

She screamed as his throat muscles engulfed her legs, she tried her best to pull them out, it was no use, he swallowed again, she jerked forward into the throat even more, she tried scratching his tongue, maybe she could claw her way out. 

This was worse than Dan, Herbert was in absolute agony, his preparations were no use, her fighting was awful on his throat, he had to swallow quickly and uncomfortably, which made it bad for both sides. 

Meg was pulled into his throat completely in one final swallow, which made her yell out, but it was too late, she was never going to get out of this, 

Herbert held his throat as she entered his esophagus, away from his windpipe, he let out a deep breath, in a hoarse voice, he called down to Dan “She’s all yours” 

“Herbert? Are you okay?” Dan called back to him, he heard the heavy breathing, and the gravelly voice Herbert had. 

Herbert patted his stomach, “try your best to tame her, I don’t know how much more of this I can take” 

Dan heard the muffled yelling of meg get louder and louder, he stared up, waiting for her body to fall into Herbert’s stomach just like he did. 

Meg seemed to slip faster and faster, sliding down Herbert’s throat with no issues, she pushed, she screamed, she tried everything to make him at least choke on her before the inevitable.

Her legs entered the man's stomach first, it was a strange feeling, having been in a space so tight she couldn’t move, to a space where she was able to move freely. She kicked wildly as soon as she could. 

“Meg!” Dan yelled, grabbing onto her legs, helping her ease into Herbert’s stomach, he cringed as she flailed around, nearly hitting him multiple times “Meg! It's okay! It's okay!” she fell into Dans arms, collapsing, crying into his shoulder.

“Dan! Oh god Dan?!” Meg pulled away, “We have to get out of here! We’re gonna--” 

Dan grabbed her arms, holding them so she couldn’t fight, she fell silent as he did this, he had never done anything like this before, he was usually afraid to put a hand on her. 

“Meg I’ve been in here for a while, I haven’t even felt a tingle,” she was about to protest, but he shushed her carefully, “believe me Meg, we’re okay” 

“But the shrinking thing...and the...the…” she couldn’t think of the right words, her mind was completely scrambled “but he ATE us!” 

“Yes, I’ll admit, pretty weird,” Dan laughed, though Meg looked at him horrified “but We’re safe, how the hell and I alive if we aren’t?” 

Meg tried to make a case for her horror, but she couldn’t find an explanation that made sense, Herbert ate them, they should be in danger… but dan was fine, she must’ve been fighting with Herbert for an hour, which is more than enough time for the stomach acid to attack. As she calmed ever so slightly, he let go of her hands, cradling her softly. 

Herbert, finally catching his breath, decided to head upstairs, not wanting to mess with any more reagent. 

Meg let out a gasp as they two lovers were sloshed around in Herbert’s stomach, she clung to Dan like a safety net. He grabbed onto her, holding her tightly. 

“He’s just moving, you get used to it,” he patted her saliva covered head “Just think of it like a...waterbed” 

Meg scoffed at the ridiculous comparison, but just nodded. 

Herbert turned off the basement lights, retiring to his room. He took off his tie, unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt. He looked down at his stomach, he laughed, seeing his skin slightly bulged out, containing the couple. 

“I’m guessing from the lack of fighting, you got through to her, didn’t you Dan” he placed his hand on his stomach. He could feel one of them squirm, he knew it was Meg. 

“It's okay Herbert!” Dan patted the stomach wall, Meg flinched hearing Herbert's voice all around her, this was insane. 

“Miss Halsey, I apologize for not explaining in depth, but unfortunately I knew you wouldn’t listen. So, I had to resort to this” 

“Resort to this?!” she yelled loudly, but surprisingly, not out of anger, she just had no idea if he could hear her or not “I think you could’ve done a few other things instead of this!” 

“Meg you and I both know that you wouldn’t believe him even if you wanted to” Dan sighed 

“Well I believe you now!” she called “so let us out!” 

Herbert stopped in his tracks, he completely forgot about that, and Dan had also realized at the same time as Herbert. 

“Unfortunately,…” Herbert began, trying to speak as delicately as possible, not wanting her to get mad. “Well…” 

“Herbert can’t right now” Dan spoke up for the scientist “We don’t really know a lot about what's happening right now” before Meg could begin to speak, Dan spoke up once more “We’ll figure it out, maybe we should just relax for tonight. Its late”

Herbert nodded, agreeing with him, “you two need some rest, and so do I. it may not seem like it to you but you both did a real number on me today” Herbert patted his stomach softly, ignoring the dull pain in his throat. 

“Fine….” Meg huffed “But you better fix us, West. or I’ll do ten times worse tomorrow” she gave up on fighting at this point, she would just have to go with what they were saying and hope that she would wake up from this dream one day. 

“You have my word, Miss Halsey” he smiled, sitting down on his bed, taking his shoes off. He didn’t care about his clothes right how, he would just sleep in them, he pulled the covers over himself, placing both of his hands on his stomach. 

Dan laid back, spooning Meg, she turned around, laying on his chest, she listened to his breathing, which was on time with Herbert’s, she smiled, strangely enough, the noises around her were more calming than scary. 

“How can you just go with whatever he says?” she asked Dan, who just chuckled, kissing the top of her head. 

“Because he won’t take no for an answer...and he’s my best friend” Meg lifted her head, embracing Dan with a kiss, before laying back on his chest. 

“You are so stupid” she giggled “That’s why I love you, you know” 

“I know” he rubbed her back, yawning softly “I love you too” 

It didn’t take them that long to fall asleep, the sounds around them lulling them into slumber without issue. Herbert smiles as he felt the two fall asleep, rubbing his stomach, something about it made him want to be like this forever, he didn’t want them to let go. And if he really had to, he would like to do it again. He didn’t know how he could convince Dan, but he’d probably find a way. 

 ----------------------------------------------

I hope y’all enjoyed that, thank you so much for reading, let me know what you think!

I have some Hot Takes about some Icy Floes.  And also chapter 83, I guess.

But before I get to the ice floes, I’m going to work my way back through this chapter.

I find it interesting that Phos seems to balk at the idea of being repaired.  On the one hand, you can read it simply as them being too impatient in their current state to wait for repairs, but on the other hand, insofar as Phos’s augmentations represent something about their state of mind, it makes sense that their body is going to be fractured for as long as their mind is broken.  A new body part signals moving on, and Phos is in no state to do that.  Thus, we may be looking at gremlin-Phos for a while.  Or maybe I’m getting ahead of myself and next chapter will see the Lunarians tying Phos down and forcing some replacements on them.

Phos’s nightmare speaks for itself, so the only thing I have to note is that those magic words, “If only you were never here,” have reared their ugly head again.  Even if they’re using Antarc and the others as a mouthpiece, it seems clear that they’re really talking to themselves.

Like pretty much everyone else, I’d like to believe that Antarc would never say something like that to Phos… but it’s not like I foresaw Cinnabar rallying the troops to bury them alive either, so who knows.  On one hand, Antarc loved Kongou the most out of all the gems, and would likely be pissed at Phos’s shenanigans.  On the other hand, they are a sweetie.  But, even if they could be repaired, their memories are gone, so we’ll never know how they would have reacted.  

(Well, you know, they’re probably space dust.  But it sure is suspicious that Aechmea just so happened to have a fake piece of Antarc on hand when Phos got to the moon.  And what a coincidence that the aforementioned piece happens to be the exact same shape as one that broke off the actual Antarc.)

(…)

(He’s totally got Antarc sequestered away in a jar somewhere, doesn’t he?)

There’s something I find interesting about the conversation the gems have in the middle of the chapter.  They all express an easygoing acceptance regarding the gems on the moon, aside from Zircon who is (rightfully) worried about Yellow.  But, you’ll recall that Euclase suggested ice-breaking duty for any gems who were too rattled to sleep, and everyone present is someone whose partner/frenemy left for the moon.  So, what does that imply?  On that note, Bort is the only one who lost a partner to Phos’s rebellion that isn’t present.  (Also, it’s nice to see that Morga has grown to be more confident.)

Jade’s interpretation of what happened, along Red Beryl/Obsidian’s unquestioning acceptance of that explanation, is so galaxy-brained that it makes me wonder if they all suspect that Kongou let Phos out, but are unwilling to admit that to themselves.  Naturally though, Euclase seems to know what’s up.  I wonder if they’ll confront Kongou about it.

I had wondered how Kongou would react after nearly starting third impact, and it seems he’s entered conceal-don’t-feel mode.  It’s interesting that he’s keeping the fact that he let Phos out a secret; as far as I know, his programming wouldn’t compel him to withhold this information.  What is it that he thinks would happen if the earth gems knew he was unwilling to keep antagonizing Phos, and not just unable?  Another thing I noticed is that, while Kongou is sporting his usual stiff upper lip, the way his neutral expression is drawn seems just a bit more upset than usual.  I might be imagining it though.

I’m not sure if Kongou’s line here is an obtuse way of saying that spring is on the way, or if he’s saying that global warming is still a thing even after the death of humanity.  Though I must say, on a metaphorical level, his comment gels quite nicely with my observation from last month that reading this series is like being a frog in boiling water.  Anyway, if he’s not referring to the change of the seasons, it brings up a topic that’s been on my mind for a while: namely, what are the gems going to do if they lose their island?  

The subject has never been broached, but eroding away into nothing or being submerged by rising sea levels is the eventual fate of your average tiny island.  And when that happens, and the gems are forced to live underwater, they’d lose their immortality for all intents and purposes.  The saltwater would gradually wear away at them, and they’d have no way to harvest or even use the paste with which they repair themselves.  It strikes me as a bit of a glaring issue, but I’ve seen no acknowledgment of it, aside from a throwaway line about a document measuring erosion rates along the shore.  That said, ignoring uncomfortable truths is the gems’ favorite hobby, so I can’t say it breaks my suspension of disbelief.

If the island is revealed to be a volcanic caldera, then maybe they can hope for an eventual eruption which would bring forth new land for them to live on.  Unless of course the island is sitting on top of a strato-volcano, in which case an eruption would blast the island and everyone on it to smithereens.

Anyway, I’ve grown weary of talking about things that aren’t ice floes, so let’s get to it.  I’ve been having thoughts about them for a while now, and since this chapter features some ice floe action, I might as well take this opportunity to talk about it.  It seems to me that the ice floes function as something of a metaphor.  I think they serve to illustrate both the grief and despair that the gems endure, as well as their inability to reckon with such emotions.

I first made this connection when reading another user’s meta, which pointed out that in chapter 39, Phos’s head broke into the shape of the ice flows, thus showing that they see themselves as a sinner, which is what the ice floes apparently are.  (I can’t for the life of me find the post in question, but if I do, I’ll edit a link to it onto this post.)

There are lot of unanswered question about the ice floes, and we only know a handful of things about them:

They are the same type of being as the gems—inclusions inhabiting a crystalline solid.

They have no will of their own, but can reflect the negative emotions of those around them.

They speak a language that Kongou understands which the rest of the gem do not, aside from Phos and their vore-induced powers of translation.

But, there’s reason to believe that we haven’t gotten the full truth regarding the ice floes.  If they have no will of their own, then why do they specifically reflect negative emotions, and not just any thought that passes through someone’s head?  Why do they menace and break the gems with what seems like malicious intent?  Why are their screams so otherworldly compared to the sounds an actual ice floe would make?  Why are shaped so strangely?  Why are they “sinners?”

Here’s what I suspect is going on:  The ice floes are just sentient enough to be upset about their cursed forms, but since they have no recourse other than to direct their misery at others, they resort to impotently screaming at anyone in earshot, and trying to consume the gems in order to integrate them into the ice—perhaps they feel that if they can’t be happy and whole, then no one should, which is certainly a sentiment that has cropped up a few times in the series.  The way Kongou stares at the screaming ice floes in dismay as he clutches Phos’s eye makes me think that the two are being equated, that Phos’s wretched state is how the ice floes feel all the time.  It also makes me wonder what Kongou is hearing at that moment, seeing as he can understand them.  (And can I just say that this moment made me tear up a little?  Even after all the awfulness that just transpired, he’s worried about Phos, and is hiding their pieces in his sleeve for safekeeping. The society he created may be flawed, to put it lightly, but I just can’t dislike anyone who chugs that Phos-loving juice.)

And in typical fashion, the gems are entirely incurious about the ice floes, and are only annoyed with them for disturbing their beauty sleep. Their solution is simply to shut them up, with nary a thought to the meaning of their actions, and, as Morga so aptly put it, to cheer louder than the ice floes can scream.

So, like I said, it kind of seems like the ice floes are an extended metaphor for both human suffering, and a failure to reckon with it.  Man, remember how Phos’s first impulse upon learning that the ice floes are alive was to try and make friends with them?  Even if it was dangerously naïve, I kind of find myself wishing that they had tried.

Have any of you guys ever read Ursula K. LeGuin’s short story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas?  It’s a great, quick read.  You know who really needs to read it, and take its lessons to heart?  The entire cast, except maybe Ventricosus, or something.  Because if someone, anyone doesn’t start walking away from Omelas, then this can only end in tragedy.  (Phos tried to, but on their way out, they slipped on a banana peel and broke their neck.)

Which brings me to my thoughts on Cinnabar.  Two of the things they said this chapter seem to subtly imply that they haven’t made peace with the idea of being happy at another’s expense.  There’s their line about how Dia’s probably having more fun than they should be, and then there’s the moment when, after Kongou calls their happiness a blessing, they smile for only a moment before growing forlorn.  They don’t extend that sentiment towards Phos—heaven forbid anyone show basic decency towards the local scapegoat—but I do think these moments are subtle indications that Cinnabar is more thoughtful regarding their place in the world than the others.  You’ll also recall that the other gems didn’t spare much thought to Antarc after they were taken, so it’s nice to see Cinnabar pick up a bit of slack there.  Now that I think about it, if my musings about them in the last chapter were correct, they might be assuming that they’ve done Phos a favor, and that they’re perfectly fine now that they’ve made it back to the moon.  After all, they said themselves that they believe Phos is beloved there.

The only other thing on my mind this chapter is how, in much the same way the text has been preoccupied with both the joys and horrors of change, these last few arcs have concerned themselves with the act of moving on—the sense of freedom and relief it brings, but also the agony of being unable to let go, the futility of mere escapism, and the desolation of being the one who is left behind.

Finally, I said in my last essay that I’d be posting my crackpot Cairn theory in the near future.  Here’s a link to that for any interested parties who may have missed it the first time around.

You’re my companion?

Apologises, I may, may not have speed ran this for a certain day. And I may, may not be sleep deprived hence there may be many grammar issues. I just hope its good to read wndjnjadna

Warnings: Soft vore, almost death and mistreatment. (It’s all fluff I promise, I know the warnings look bad-)

Words: 1.9K

Techno who’s lived for centuries, feared by so many as the blood god who’s ruined families, villages and won so many wars, be brothers with someone so contrasting to his personality get along? How did the gods decide this upon him? Perhaps to teach him a lesson about something like compassion or kindness?

In this world, people who are chosen are destined to be paired with what is called a “companion “. Companions are tiny beings of magic, the stronger the bond, the stronger the magic. They seem quite human despite the many defining traits that make them so different, the main trait being the companions’ small size, tiny even. They could be the size of your dog or the size of your hand. Many see companions as family, close friends, guardians even children in some cases, they’re bound to do great things. So how did somebody as horrifying and merciless gain a companion?

His companion was Tommy, a little companion by the size of the half of his hand, which by human standards, be about the size of their hand. Tommy was quite the energetic companion which complimented his magic, his magic being able to transfer his magical energy to his partner, which was Techno in this case. Tommy came in use in situations where Techno’s opponent somehow gained the upper hand, not many knew he had Tommy, so he came into use with those cases, Techno gaining strength and easily overpowering his enemies.

He and Tommy did not get along. When Tommy came to be, he tried befriending Techno so many times, it never worked. They always tried to avoid each other whenever possible, hence why they’re described as brothers by his mentor, Philza and his companion Wilbur. His relationship with Wilbur was so much different to his and Tommy’s, Philza was laid back and Wilbur was sociable so the two get along quite easily, they even get along with Tommy!

He didn’t understand how tough, how did they get along with somebody so irritating? He was so annoying, always yelling, loud, problematic. Overall a nuisance.

From Tommy’s point of view, he always felt mistreated and used by Techno, not in a bad sense but the only times Tommy would be able to act with Techno is in battle when Techno calls it. It’s frustrating, both he and Techno have a sense of adventure so why don’t they get along? It’s just Techno’s so stubborn.

Tommy huffed in frustration as he sat in a pile of flowers, the flowers always brought him comfort, he found it fun to pick off the petals one by one as time passes. It’s really the only thing he can do while away from Technoblade.

“TOMMY!”. Somebody yelled in the distance. He looked back as he had heard Wilbur, approaching in the distance. “There you are you fucking gremlin. Phil is worried about you”. Tommy huffed and smiled, “Why does that old man worry about me?”, “Because we care about you, dweeb”. Wilbur ruffled his hair as Tommy stood up. Wilbur was double the size of Tommy, his transparent skin and blue gradients in his sweater and hair, his eyes with no pupils, a full white. Very different from Tommy’s glowing gold hair, goat-like tail and horns.

They began to walk back to Philza’s cottage. “You worried about Techno again?”.  Tommy groaned, “COURSE I AM MAN! He just- He never lets me get along or help him! It’s annoying, I’m a companion for a reason”. He sighed, “You know that rumour Wilbur if companions don’t get along with their partner, they’ll disappear… I don’t want to disappear!”. Wilbur looked at him worriedly, “Toms, hey-“ Wilbur held his shoulder and looked at him in the eyes with reassurance. “You aren’t going to disappear, not if I have anything to do with it. You and Techno will get along, just give it time”.

They made it back to the cottage and there sat at the table talking was Philza with Techno. They were talking about their latest adventures and battles. “So, you really managed to defeat him so easily? The dream? The legend?”, Tommy and Wilbur made it to the top of the table thanks to Wilbur’s floating abilities. “Heh, yeah and it was pretty easy too.”. Tommy snorted, “It was easy because I gave you my energy, Asshole.”. Techno looked over to see his companion had returned, his red eyes narrowed as he exhaled through his nose, making his annoyance apparent. “Oh! Tommy, Wilbur! I’m glad to see you’re back safely!”. Philza smiled.

As the words came out of Philza’s mouth, Technoblade stood up and made eye contact with Tommy, making it apparent to him that they were leaving and went to grab his bag. “Leaving so soon?”. “Yep, got a couple of things to pick up in town before I leave off to the next adventure”. He laid his bag on the table for Tommy to hop into.

Tommy said his farewells as he hopped into Techno’s bag, the bag he’d probably stay in for the next week. Once he was in, Techno lifted the bag and made his way to the door, before he said goodbye for the final time, Philza cut him off. “Techno, before you go. Please, try to bond with Tommy”. There was a sad tone in his voice, when he looked back both he and his companion had sorrowful faces, something was worrying them. He knew what but he couldn’t even bother, so to put it simply he left through the door.

It had been about a couple of hours since that talk, Tommy had remained completely silent, not saying anything. Usually, he was trying to get Techno’s attention by now, by climbing out of his bag to his shoulder and yelling into his ear. Even more, time went by in the forest and no noise from Tommy, by then it was night. By the time he had decided it was time to settle down for the night, he heard a noise in a nearby bush.

He huffed as he went over to investigate it, as he peered into the bush it was quickly interrupted by something hitting him right in the face, the next thing he knew was that he felt incredibly weak. He was surrounded by glass shards. A weakness potion.

His mind immediately went to Tommy, his eyes rushed over to his bag. Only for a figure to dash over him and make it to his bag before him. The figure picked it up and began to rummage through it, only to feel something quite squishy and soft. He brought out the squishy thing only for it to be Tommy.

But Tommy didn’t look the same as usual, his glow was dim, and he looked to be fading. “Well, well, well. Look what we got here.” He held Tommy as if he were presenting an object to show and tell. “The Blood God has a companion, and it’s fading. Not a surprise”. The cloaked figure brought down his hood to reveal his white, smiley mask.

“Dream”. Technoblade’s voice was low with venom. “Let him go”. A low growl could be heard rumbling from his throat to which Dream laughed. Tommy woke up at the sudden noise, “Techno?” He groaned as he was waking up, not sure of the situation, “What’s going on?”. He wiped at his eyes. To say Tommy felt exhausted was an understatement, he felt so weak. He looked down at his hands to see that they were transparent, and some parts of his hands had disappeared. He screamed at the realization.

A low laugh could be heard from Dream, “that’s right, little one”. Tommy looked up at the hand who held him, he recognised it to be Dream. “TECHNO!”. He yelled in panic. Techno was drawn out of his thoughts and looked to Tommy, his eyes filled with worry. Techno realised something. He was a complete asshole to Tommy, he had a companion for a reason, the gods had given him someone who understood him, someone other than Phil and Wilbur, someone who made him stronger and better, and he’d taken advantage of it. “TOMMY!” He yelled back.

He stood up with whatever his body would allow him to and ran over to dream in a dashing tackle, trying to pin him down. Tommy fell out of his hands onto the dirt floor. Techno knew he couldn’t hold Dream down for long with the effects of this weakness potion. In a daze, he picked up Tommy and ran as far as he could into the forest, “HEY!” could be heard as he ran in the distance.

He ran and ran for what felt like forever and had managed to gain distance from Dream for a moment’s while. He looked down at his hands to see Tommy not looking too good himself, he was still fading. “Toms?...”. He whispered and got groan of pain in response. “Listen, we both know I’m not good with the talking stuff…”. He muttered and shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? Please, just be, okay?! Please?! I hate seeing you like this!”.

“TECHNOBLADE”. Could be heard in the distance of the forest, it wouldn’t be long before Dream caught up to them, “Tommy please!”. He shook his small body then remembered something.

“Hey Techno!”. It was Tommy trying to gain his attention again, annoying him as he sharpened his weapon. “What?” he muttered in a low voice. “You know how you’re a piglin right? With that whole- second stomach- storage thing? What if you stored me and I could buff you up? That way you wouldn’t have to worry about me in combat and I’d be completely safe?”.

His memory faded to black as he looked back down at his little companion, Tommy looked so weak, he had to keep him safe. So, he gently lifted Tommy towards his face, and carefully placing him in his mouth. He could feel Tommy’s stiff and tense body, relax at the warmth of his body. He had to keep Tommy safe, the thought of that alone made him swallow him down despite voices screams. He was gentle as he could be as he felt Tommy fall into his storage.

“TECHNO!”. Dream had finally caught up to them, He looked over to him with fury in his eyes. “Listen Dream! Back off!”. He growled as he stood up, a hand laying protectively over his stomach. “Where’d your little companion go, huh?  Finally faded, did he?”. He which made Technoblade snarl.  “You wish, that kid’s got balls. He isn’t going any time soon.” And a small voice confirmed it “You got that right”. It was Tommy’s voice.

The next thing he knew is that he felt the strength of their magic. He smirked and immediately ran at Dream. After a few quick punches and kicks, Dream was running away. And so, Techno made his way back to his camp. “Let’s keep you in there for the night, Alright? I’m sure we’re both exhausted” He mumbled as he laid back against a tree. “Agreed”.

Both fell asleep peacefully that night.

And the next day, when Tommy was back out. He was normal, maybe even better. And from that day onward. He and Tommy were a lot closer.

CoS - Chapter 6: Of Family and other Nightmares

Summar: Logan's nightmares happen. Tags: food/eating, talks about suicide and guilt and self-blaming and pedophilia/CSA. nightmares (with dying/burying alive metaphor) I am warning you: This chapter can be triggering. ao3 clicky Story under the cut:

Logan felt his lips freeze. The situation before him felt oddly appalling, despite Patton being before him. He was always a tad too affectionate for Logan’s personal comfort but it was never quite too much and they both had learned that the IT student would voice his displeasure and demand more space to be between them instead of them being a space that was filled out. The two were sitting together on the couch, the clock in the warm living-room was ticking with an unusually high volume. It was quite disruptive. Logan had trouble focusing on the silly cartoon before him. Honestly, he had never quite liked them too much. To be frank, he found himself to detest these shows completely despite him being able to name quite why the delight he used to have taken in those was suddenly so shallow. They were like an apple he had bitten into. Red and tight in his hands. So full and robust but when his teeth would break through the candy red blush of the fruit, he tasted mold and dust. He was left with the taste of decomposition and nothing in his mouth. Something had turned his delight into a nightmare, a product of disgust and nothing but retching could be detected within him whenever he saw the bright pictures of too round faces and smooth animations. Something about these holy worlds and the wholesome story lines seemed to disturb him. It was shaking him to the core and it was.. deeply unsettling to say at last. He pushed his hands into his thighs and slid them over to his knees where he pressed his thumbs into his skin. For no reason, he was wearing shorts. Was it bed time? It felt like bed time. Why else would he wear shorts in the commons. It was just then that his eyes caught sight of the sofa they were on. They were not in the commons, they were not on their usual couch. This was another place and even the TV seemed so much older. It seemed like a decade ago, maybe even two, when people had bought and used these big blocks of black screens that seemed to use magic in order to display moving pictures with so many colours and so much sound. The nerd shifted. ‘’Patton, perhaps we should switch channels, should we not?’’, he suggested. His voice was meek and his mouth felt dry. If he did not know better, he would think himself to be a wooden clock. Hollow on the inside, thick layer of wood on the outside. All he felt was the ticking against his lungs, the steady throbbing of his pained heart. His biological alarm clock stunk of adrenaline and it tasted of more and more empty disgust. His roommate next to him let out a deep chuckle. Normally, he would giggle and give him the remote but today felt different, today seemed so off. Where was Roman? Why was his uncle not here, why were his parents not here? Actually, now that he focused on it, it seemed as if he could hear the distant chattering, the clinging of glass cups crushing together and the light-hearted giggles of his mother at ease whenever she was with her brother. He liked his uncle. His uncle was nice. But why was Patton here with him? Did they finish playing on the swing? Mom did not like him being so much inside when he had a friend and could do so much better than watch cartoons. Maybe Patton was over for a sleepover? Logan turned to face the kitchen that was just next-doors. He was ready to call out for his mom but a certain sensation stopped him. A hand was on his thigh and pressed into his flesh. The touch was uncomfortable, it forced a cold into him that Patton did not have. ‘’Loganberry, you wanted to play with me. You promised!’’, the other cried out in a drastic voice before he chuckled again. The sound snuck into his marrow and rattled his comfort again. Patton did not call him that- ‘’I don-’’, Logan started but the words were stuck in his throat. It was so dry, so dry. His mouth was too dry for him to speak any more and the hand on his lap was suffocating him. ’’No’’, he whined but Patton’s hand stayed on him. Suddenly, the hand was on his and he was pulled to his friend’s chest, the observant smirk on Patton’s sharp lips dug into Logan’s sight and he squeezed his eyes shut for another moment. ‘’Come on, let us play!’’ Logan felt his lips seal shut. His tongue as gone, it was far and even further away. Out of sight and out of his mind. All was blank and stale and simple. So bland, so white. So shockingly white without even a hint of innocence in it. Patton’s fingers traced over his body, inching closer, intruding his space. Taking him, tainting his innocence. The kid gasped but the sound was muffled by Patton’s gaunt fingers slapping over his mouth. A distorted mouth was by his side and he felt kisses trail over his body as his body grew stiff. ‘’Loganberry’’, the stranger moaned, ‘’my love!’’

Logan shivered and squirmed but the hand was fitting over his mouth so well, he felt barred and fully blocked from speaking as the restricting human gag of a memory was silencing him into obedience and took his weakness for consent. The other hand was so close, so so deep in his clothing that it scared him because the touch was could and it hurt and he could hear his mom giggle and get tipsy with her brother and Patton was trapping him and flipped him down onto the couch just to trap him and turn his world upside down. When he sat up, Patton was gone and so were his shorts. They were replaced by black and it was stiff and long on him. It covered him wholly and mulled him into feelings he did not know to be his or someone else’s. The black was everywhere, it was on other people, it was in the sky and on the ground. There was charcoal even in the air and in his heart was nothing but spilled ink over his cool white that used to be his and his only. ‘’He had nothing else to live for’’ But who? ‘’He had left a letter. He apologised to his family’’ ‘’I know, I know. His parents are devastated. They will never be the same.’’ ‘’He said he did not see the sense in life without the love of his life with him.’’ ‘’Love of his life? But he was so young. I have never seen him with a girl.’’ Logan swallowed. There were white lilies in his hands. Lilies like death. White like the rotten unknowing that was dead and beaten and would be buried in the black of this ground, vored by a hole and forever graved into a wholesome memory of treasure and value. He stepped forward to put them on the casket. The wooden prison suddenly opened and he was pushed inside. ‘’You killed him!’’, the voices yelled. He could only see violence and hands stretched out to get to him, to come for him and destroy him. ‘’You rejected him!’’ ’’You! You killed my baby!’’ He was pushed into the narrow space. It was perfect for his size, It was made for him and his sins. ‘’You knew you would hurt him. You knew he loved you!’’ ‘’Why did you not just accept his love!?’’ He swallowed the lump in his throat but it remained and tears started blurring the darkness of his vision. ‘’If it had not been for you, he would still be here!’’ ‘’You should have died instead or accepted your feelings like a man!’’ Logan started squirming as his prison was lifted up and he was soon lowered into the hole, his own burial. It was to make up for his sins. Dirt and flowers were thrown at him as the voices continued to chant. ‘’I thought I could trust you.. my own son destroyed out family!’’ ’’Such a sweet child and you were so selfish. How could you?’’ Logan wanted to speak but the hand was forever on his mouth, keeping him still as the black and white were thrown at him. Finally, he cried, sitting up and feeling the familiar heat of blankets on his skin. Virgil, awake as always was immediately by his side and his voice was clustering onto his lap like cereal spilling form the original package into a bowl of cereal. The voice was the same but the content of words was colourful and had a variance Logan could not keep up with, considering all he perceived was a small light somewhere in the room. Not the main light but a little light source that did not seem like a candle. And there was the warmth of his blankets and Virgil who was a blob of colours next to him with these sounds that were so different and so similar at the same, so similar he could not tell them apart or focus on what he said. ‘’Logan, it is okay. I am here’’, the punk assured carefully. The nerd still did not understand him but he understood his name. He knew the sound of it and he welcomed the clear version without any fancy letters attached to it. He hated diminutives anyway. He did not even know why but they made him sick and want to fucking puke. Not all, just some.

Virgil’s hands were raised and the palms were flat, facing Logan for him to see. Oh.. It was so hard to see. Logan narrowed his eyebrows and squinted at the sight. He just did not have any focus ... all was blur and such a fast twisting mess of whatever you would see when riding a merry-go-round when absolutely out of your mind. Like wasted or whatever. There.. no.. one of the hands was curled around something but Logan could not see what it was, he could not make it out but Virgil carefully placed it in his hand and he felt the object with his fingers, wrapping around the familiarity of something he had used so often and had liked so much. His glasses. He carefully put them back on and nodded. The world looked less confusing now but everything was still too much. All impressions on him were so overwhelming and there was barely anything, there was just so much in his head, so many thoughts, so many voices. So much heavy weight of a past guilt. And he still did not feel like the coal in his throat would ever get out. All he did and said was tainted in black with the ink of his sin and the darkness of his actions. He did not even regret it, did he? Logan just shook his head. He did not even what he tried to say with it but.. but he could not, all was too much, everything was too much. His had turned to the side, away from the weak light that was so far away. It was so so far away and it could not even hurt him or bother him but it hurt and it annoyed him. He wanted it gone. Virgil moved into the sight of the source of light, effectively blocking most of it. The second-year student nodded carefully and slowly turned back to face the other. He could not really make out much of his face since the shadows were chased away from the light and bled onto Virgil’s usually softer features that almost made him look like a delicate flower. ‘’Log’’, the other said and Logan nodded again. Acknowledgement. He understood that name. He liked it. It was even shorter and it was a nice reference. It was about the only little joke he liked and Virgil had always used it ever since the two had met on the job. With their firsts shifts together, Logan had worked on something on his laptop and had focused on typing away so much, he had not realised his break had been over. It was only when the other’s voice had piped up, dark and light at the same time, a perfect mix of being in-between and yet so iconic for his brooding appearance. He had called him ‘log’ as a joke since this had been on Logan’s screen and it was probably the first thing he had read when looking for the other.

Logan had fallen behind his usual schedule and had yet to get a university project finished but one of his partners had just dropped the course. In the middle of the whole semester, he had decided to change courses and left without another notice. Nothing but a short message that was only a screenshot of a mail sent to the administration. A confirmation of abandoning his studies since he was accepted into another course of studies. Virgil had noticed that he was just not his usual self and had promised him to cover and take the work onto his shoulders. Logan had almost cried. Half-way through his shift he had gotten to finish his project. Without anyone knowing, Virgil had spent basically all his time to work for two people. Logan had basically used all his working time to finish his group assignment and submit it with a string of notes from how much his partners helped (of course his chat history had been attached as screenshots in order to back up his claims. ‘’V’’, he returned. For some reason, his voice was so raspy and it felt like the coal within his throat was scratching madly against his throat and it hurt and dragged and rubbed and the friction felt like another bruising fire starting up within him and he hated it. He wanted to cough out his coal. He was sick of carrying the blackening piece of dark history with him. Logan was so much more.. He had so much good in his life. Right now, Virgil was smiling at him even though he did not look very much like smiling. His face look tired and so so void of any life. It was like flaccid skin being pulled over a skull after being bleached with the strains of being awake for days on end. Did Virgil even sleep? ‘’Log, hey. Can you hear me?’’

Focus. Yes. Yes of course he did. He even understood his words. ‘’Good, good.’’ Virgil sounded so soothing. He could not even sound ridiculing to Logan even though he just admitted that his greatest accomplishment was being able to decipher spoken verbalisations in his mother tongue and effectively respond to it. Well, not exactly verbally but at least he could react at all. Virgil chuckled a little. It sounded so little like him. It sounded so much more like a desperate crying fit and Logan was so confused about this. Emotions rarely ever made sense but this was like trying to summarise a book and instead just praising it with meaningless reviews. It was something that Logan hated with a burning passion and he had ranted so often about it with Virgil, it had eventually turned into a game. They would read some of the books review of the books they had to sort in. Logan would usually just glance over the back of one book and start reading it, voice heavy with the tone of his judgmental sarcasm as he presented the ridiculous reviews to Virgil. The punk would then have to find out what it was about. It was nearly always wrong but they eventually added the book cover as hint so the game would be easier. After that, Virgil would come up with the funniest story ideas. If Logan was a writer, he would ask for help with Virgil’s ridiculous creativity. His ideas were nonsensical yet strangely amusing. Logan smiled. Virgil smiled back, the desperation seemed to fade from his lips and the curl of their corners seemed more genuine and it resembled the natural snorting expression the artist would display whenever someone he was comfortable with made a joke. It was magic to Logan. ‘’Listen, is it okay if I touch you? I just wanna sit next to you and look around the room, okay? It is not bad if you say no. You can always say no.’’ Logan tilted his head. His head was so heavy and his thoughts seemed to weigh him down. They were soaked clothing on a person who tried to make it through the every day insanity of life. It was so much harder and it did not have to be. Nobody needed this. He tried to contemplate on the question and carefully let his head drop before his unfocused gaze, that was just anyway, narrowed onto the space pattern around his blanket. The librarian carefully moved to the side and nodded again. His lips twitched upwards into a little smile and he nodded again when Virgil did not respond. The artist slowly climbed into his bed and despite the confirmation that he was very much okay to touch Logan, there was an invisible barrier that kept the two apart. Their bodies were not touching. He curled up and stretched out his left hand to allow Logan to take it. ‘’Hey, I know the light sucks but I need you to focus. I know you are tired and exhausted but can you please focus?’’ Another nod. Virgil felt Logan’s hand slip into his and the fourth roommate nodded softly. ‘’Can you do me the favour of naming five things you can see?’’ Logan dragged his gaze over the room, fixating on nothing in particular. The objects before him seemed to float down the stream of a waterfall and he was not quite quick enough to catch the concept of all these things. It seemed so lost, he was so lost. He carefully squeezed Virgil’s hand that was between them. He trained his eyes on his lap and and slowly moved his hand over there. Maybe for comfort, maybe because his cluttered mind would understand that this hand was moved by him - into his own lap. But honestly, there was no knowing since he himself did not know at all. The first things started coming into focus. Despite his glasses it felt as if he was squinting in concentration and his nose did scrunch up a tiny bit. Logan was helpless and lost but he looked utterly uncontrolled and, for some reason, much more human than on average. Of course, a common exception is whenever he just woke up and had this little look of confusion and needed adjustment on his face. It was when he was loose like the straps of a recently purchased backpack - it was only a matter of time until it was adjusted to the given circumstances. Before his eyes, the familiar darkness of his blanket came into focus and slowly, like an old camera, the blurriness faded until everything seemed clear. He was still floating, as much as the things around him that seemed out of place and as if they were homeless at the same time. None of them belonged. ‘’Blanket’’, Logan started and Virgil gently squeezed his hand in encouragement. The elder one smiled mutely and gave a curt nod as response. At least he saw something. ‘’The space’’, he started but the words did not make sense, not even to him, ‘’space pattern’’. Virgil nodded wisely. Maybe it was just in imagination that Logan brought onto himself. Perhaps in his mind it did not make sense but it somehow made sense after all. Just not to him. It was like Patton’s jokes that he missed out on so often that he just felt the heat on his face stay away and instead, cold settling in his chest. It was almost too common for him to feel like he was the only one to not get it. The only one to not feel it. His fingers brushed against Virgil and the other immediately opened his hand around Logan’s. It seemed the other had pressed the right button to convey what he wanted to express because the other was quick to give in to his sudden movements. Sudden, nonetheless slow and careful. His palm rested back on the bed and he brushed over the blanket. The pattern was not just dark hues. Well, it mostly was but there were sparks of stars and sources of shine in the nice illustration of a space-themed look. The best part of it was that the other side of his blanket, the one which was currently covering his legs and touching his toes, was a mash up of different stars and constellations of them as well. They were connected and Logan would often just look at them and appreciate them. It was a gift from Patton and he still found comfort in the blanket. Logan’s hand retreated to the grip of his roommate’s fingers. He gently squeezed it again, the warmth welcoming him and inviting him to a more beautiful and stable world. For some reason, everything seemed more complete at this moment. The grip was more like a grip on his life and and Logan breathed out. There was relief on his tongue and he slumped a little against the wall behind his bed before he curled up against Virgil. It was a light contact at first, their heads brushing together like a lover’s caress. Their shoulders lightly bumped together and the outside of their thighs lined up next to each other like best friends would sit together whenever they share time to have some good moments together and make a little less complicated and bitter like it usually was with all the stress. ‘’Our hands’’, he said. His voice was genuine and dipped into a softness that seemed so different, nearly alien coming from the usually so factual nerd who barely conveyed any sort of emotion. No strong one. His emotions were usually the verbal pastels of colours while others came on so strong. Roman, for example, was always strong like his red jackets he liked to wear so much. They were the intense crimson, a deep carmine, sometimes the slightly softer but still rather bright poppy. His emotions were so bundled up and came in less than they stormed the scene with lime light and speakers as they started the rush of feeling. Virgil swallowed, a lump building up in his throat but he gently shifted their hands so his thumb could brush over the back of Logan’s larger and much paler hands. Logan truly had this glorious nerd tan that came from being solely exposed to the sunshine instilled in LED lamps. It was admirable, truly enviable. At least, if you asked Virgil. ‘’One more, my dear’’, the punk encouraged and Logan settled against his side by now. His head slipped to his chest and he let out a little sigh. ‘’The light. It is a real nuisance’’, he said. The hands on his back seemed to be gone. The grabbing cold stopped trying to drag him into the abyss of decay. Virgil scoffed at that and Logan joined with a little huff. His sounds were breathless and he had to keep inhaling deeply in-between his fits of laughing that easily degenerated into aimless giggles. He collapsed into Virgil’s lap and the other carefully brush through his blonde curls with a smile so faint yet so prominent on his features. His eyes were light with the feeling of elation between them and the light was the least bothering by now. It gave them the opportunity to lock eyes whenever Logan’s throat cried for more oxygen and gasps ripped from his insides as he split his mouth and sucked in needy breaths just to fall into his self-intoxicating chuckles once more. ‘’You did well, Log’’, he praised gently and softly petted his hair, ‘’you are doing very well.’’ Logan hummed softly, his chuckles dying down as a smile of contentment splayed itself over his features. The nightmare was far gone. It had hit him like a truck but after the initial harm, he was back to himself and the violence has brushed past him. He had recovered from the impact and was back in the sweet sweet care of other people making him realise that life was so much sweeter than the bitter aftertaste that trauma left on your tongue every other morning even after years of remission. ‘’Thanks..’’, Logan mumbled softly as he curled into a large ball of his gaunt but somewhat bulky form. Sure, he was much more compromised like this, like a human espresso of everything in time and space that is worth universal adoration, but he was still so much taller than Roman or Virgil were. ‘’Don’t sweat it, nerd’’, Virgil chuckled but his amused sounds were quick to fall from the air like heavy drops of bombs and they clashed onto the ground to leave the crushing destruction that was his mind. ‘’Do you want to talk about it?’’ Logan curled up further. It was foolish to think that simply taking the position of a fetus in a physical sense would transform him into a similar responsibility as much as capability. Well, it turned out that the student was still very much able to feel the pain in his chest albeit his lungs had calmed into a regular breathing rhythm. His mind used to be a galaxy but at this moment, it was sucked in by the gravity of something too big and too heavy for him to comprehend and he had yet to try and figure it out. It was then when his mind gave him a little spark in the wide darkness of himself. Hope. If he did not know how to free himself because he was too weak to break the power of attraction, maybe he would do good in getting help. He had dismissed the idea of therapy for so long. His family would find out. Even now, he would not be able to handle the shame of being any less than idea, of being someone who did not fulfill all expectations the world pored over him. The biases and dragging limits were running over him like a painfully slow bulldozer. Well, there was Patton. But the thing was, Patton did know Logan when he was not ready to talk about things, when he was in the most horrible state of mind. To him, it felt too wrong to just suddenly come up with all these things and spout them out like they had been buried under his tongue all along, waiting for him to just get loose enough. Another point, of course, was the plain fact that Patton was studying Psychology and was currently conducting a study with residing therapist Dr. Emile Picani. Sure thing he would not actively try and analyse Logan but he would at least tell him to see a therapist. He had done it before and Logan was not just unprepared and, in some ways, unable to handle this (talking about the financial burden would just be another issue he did not want to consider). Patton was his best friend. They had been best friends for years, for over a whole decade by now, if only by a few mere years. Whenever something new came up, they supported one another and now that Logan grew up more and had the time to be away from his family and think for himself while studying, he just realised that there was so much in him, so many untackled things he had never considered to be an issue. Especially the talks and the co-studies he took by supporting Patton and generally having a broad interest in all kinds of sciences had left Logan understanding just how much there was wrong with him when he had not noticed in so many years. The master student was much more knowledgeable about Logan’s well-being and his coping mechanisms than anyone else. He had his little skill kit Patton had helped him with in all glory and support. Just... He could not, he did not feel like he was the person who could break it to Patton just how fucked he was in senses where he knew that his dear friend was hurting. He could not, it would be wrong, so morally wrong like some Martha Nussbaum would probably argue for the sake of moral philosophy and the regard for human dignity. Virgil was waiting while Logan pondered, still waiting as Logan was rotating endlessly as he slowly billowed through the darkness of his own universe. The librarian sighed and carefully shifted. Ever since he had moved into Virgil’s lap to curl up like the baby he was in his vulnerability and emotional exposition, he had let go off the other’s hand in favour of holding onto himself, kind of. Well, it had not been too much of a loss since the punk was patiently caressing his hair and making the swirls of thoughts and memories less nauseating to him. Roman was out of question. He would never be able to gain this emotional depth with him. He did not know why but there seemed to always be something between them that just split them apart in ways that made it unable for him to reach out. Maybe they were too stubborn. Maybe they were not open. Perhaps it was a matter of pride and being honest with yourself and others. Logan knew it was all three but he dismissed the thought in favour of just breathing into his current acceptance at this moment. It could be that he was in some lightheaded blur but as the worlds around him kept moving and he was wafting thorough the cosmos still, the sickness seemed to fade and a sense of something special sparked within him. There was a warmth, a belonging in him and he knew it was not hope, it was so much more. It was the first time of lighting up a candle, seeing the fire spark from match or lighter over to the wick of an untouched potential. ‘’Ye...yes’’, he murmured silently. His voice did not sound like him. Not quite. Was this a new he? A he who would face his past and finally spill the truth? ‘’I mean, I think so’’, he vaguely stated but doubt quieted down his honesty, ‘’I guess..?’’ The hand in his hair stilled for just a moment before it continued again. A new tenderness seemed to be in the movement and suddenly, it was not just his hair getting gentle caresses but his whole scalp would feel the pads of now ten single fingers gently applying different degrees of pressure to his sensitive skin. ‘’I can try’’, Logan concluded. With his mind being handled like this, the whole ponderosity seemed but a fleeting incident. It was the passing of time, the sound of the steady breathing, the daily growth of nature and the movement of a river’s perpetual stream. It just.. was. Silence. After a while, Logan spoke up again. Sounded like a lot of talking he would have to do. Might as well get used to it. ‘’Can I stay like this?’’ Virgil smiled but Logan could not see it. His eyes squeezed away the possibility of rejection. ‘’Of course you can’’ It was okay?? ‘’And Logan?’’, he asked softly. Logan might as well have missed the sentence. It was not silent, no, not really. The mutter was clearly audible. Virgil’s form was so closely connected to his and his head had to be facing his as he was pronouncing his words for him. He hummed in acknowledgement, prompting the other to go on. ‘’If you ever want to stop or think better of it, that is okay. You don’t have to tell me anything, I mean, ever. Not just now. It is okay. I am here whenever you need me, as much as I can.’’ A part of him wanted to add that he owed Logan but it was not about that. It was not about any of this at all, it was more of a thing he wanted to do rather than some principles or mutuality. In the past he had been eager to please people but now all he wanted to do was give back and encourage. Maybe just open worlds and being a good friend for the sake of it rather than fulfilling some cryptic purpose he wanted to believe others would serve him in their relationships to him. ‘’I mean..’’, he mumbled and sighed again. Logan’s hand reached up to rub the eyes under his glasses, the backside of his hand pushing his glasses up like some annoying person a bully would shove out of the way. He glanced over at the alarm clock on his night stand. It was on his side, the left one. Closer to the door. Virgil’s mattress was on the right side of his bed when you were laying on it and did not face the wall the bed was cuddling with but rather showed it your back. For some reason, Virgil liked it that way. The clock was glowing in a signal red. It was stinging and intense and Logan did not particularly enjoy the sensation of craning his neck just enough off his friend’s lap so he could stare into a bright pillarbox red. It read something along the digits of 2:38am. What a shitty time to be awake when you had lesson early up in the morning but well, winter time was his personal nightmare. The shorter the days got, the more he seemed to ponder, think, deliberate. The memories would start swallowing more time of his day and block his mental capacity and cognitive abilities. As a person who took pride in this, he absolutely despised this. But at the same time, he had met Patton in the days of snow flakes falling and marshmallow-adorned hot chocolate being passed out to children. But right now it was 2:39am and Virgil was still waiting for him. ‘’Hey, let’s go out’’, he stated eventually. It was not even a suggestion. He wanted to take the car he shared (he shared it with his roommates even though Patton had resorted to using it the most these days. Not that any of them minded since it was all up to them for using it whenever the day was free. Roman usually drove him to university when his schedule allowed it.) and get out with Virgil. For some reason, he felt hungry and he just wanted to get something from a stupid take out, have crappy 3am fast food and cry over something like disgusting donuts or whatever when talking about how much he actually hated life and himself and all that made him who he was. ‘’Holy shit, that is a good idea’’, Virgil chuckled and carefully nudged Logan. The IT student got the hint and slowly rose before a certain urge overcame him and he felt his lips beings pushed open for a big yawn that he immediately covered up with a quick hand. ‘’Aw Logan’’, Virgil teased in amusement. His voice nearly sounded appreciative as he got hs ass out of bed. It was now that Logan realised that yes, they were both very much in pyjamas because they were awake in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. It was not a thing that had actually happened even though his mind wanted him to believe it very much was a memory rather than the manifestation of his guilt about actual things that happened. His tired eyes lingered on the appearance of Virgil and his tattoos for another moment. Seeing him outside of his hoodies and jackets was a thing that just happened at home, even in summer. Every time he was blessed with the comfort of Virgil being able to show his body a bit more he just felt as if something great had happened but he did not quite know how to deal with it even though he desperately wanted to do something about it. ‘’Are you sure about that, though?’’, the punk asked again as he pulled his shirt off and Logan quickly turned away and put his glasses back onto his nightstand. The elder one shot another look back at him and caught a glimpse of something that seemed to shine, something that was a dim light and it was not this stupid lamp that Virgil had turned on in order to see something when Logan had suddenly started screaming. Possibly. This glow was weaker but it seemed like a bluish, glowing colour. ‘’Yes, I am’’, he retorted and fully turned back to him, his hands by now buried in his closet as he was fishing out some casual clothing. Maybe just some nice comfort hoodie and long grieving pants. After all, he did not exactly feel like running fireworks today and seizing the day like a participator in the Olympia. He felt more like some pancake that had too much water and size and ended up being soggy and abandoned and so cold. He continued fishing. ‘’What is that glow?’’, he asked. He refused to turn on the light and Virgil did not even seem to bother as he pulled up some hoodie to put on. So, apparently he would just wear a hoodie and the loose shorts he had put on before cuddling up to his mattress in the bliss of sweet and promising exhaustion. The reward was usually a goodnight-sleep, a full one. The art student looked back up at him and even in the dim light he could see the lazy grin that were his lips, the two rings on   his bottom lip slightly stretched to the side to present a lop-sided joke of a mischievous smile. ‘’Hey nerd, you checking me out?’’, he sad before his lips were pulled by his teeth that hungrily made the grabby hands for the black horseshoe-styled jewellery that was curling around Virgil’s lower lip as he looked up at the ceiling before he spared Logan another dark glare. ‘’Well, if you need to know, come closer.’’ He dropped the hoodie onto the bed as he stepped over to Logan and the curious man was quick to jump over his hesitation and how caught up his breath seemed to be when he swallowed his questions, his confusion and his desperate need to understand what he was feeling at this moment. Virgil carefully lifted his right arm and leaned his back against the closet for Logan to see his little glow. On the side of his ribs, a few inches below his armpit, there was a bunch of little lights, bluish in nature and rather intense to see. His skin seemed so smooth, so void of hair and simply soft. Logan had never felt this hungry for secrets. He wanted to unwrap the mysterious of his friend and eat them up like a delicately wrapped of chocolate praline. ‘’It is the Comae Berenices. That thing that looks like the tip of an unfinished triangle is her Diadem’’, Virgil explained as he carefully brushed over a connecting line. This one was in regular black, nothing too fancy, no special ink that seemed to magically appear in the light of darkness. ‘’I kinda associate it with the goddess of victory and success and thought it was kinda nice. The alpha star is called ‘Diadem’ like I told you. It is a double star and it is usually connected to beta and gamma of this asterism.’’ Logan leaned in as he followed Virgil’s browsing finger like a predator observed his victim. Curious, morbidly even so. And so hungry in his own fascination. It drowned him in something that did not quite satisfy him. Oh, now he regretted having taken off his glasses just to stare less but this was just another excuse to get his curly head of curiosity closer into Virgil’s life and find out more. When he carefully brushed over it with his own fingers, Virgil flinched away. The magic seemed broken and Logan’s captivity in this bonding moment was gone as the portal to the cryptic glow was closed off again and Virgil’s arm lowered and curled around his abdomen in defense. The IT student wanted to apologise, wanted to tell his colleague that he was sorry but then he heard Virgil’s chuckle again and he saw how the other squeezed himself into the closet and hugged his arms to himself in a sense of comforting his triggered tactile sense. ‘’I am ticklish’’, Virgil explained, his words effectively affirming Logan’s suspicions. He was merely satiated but he swallowed away his interest and nodded away, keeping up his usual business-attitude as he tried to not feel feverish and so unbelievably hot in his own skin. His face was glowing harder than Virgil's tattoo. And it was not even the only tattoo and Logan had just recently saw the snake one for the first time. Now he also got to realise that his chest and back as well as the asterism were tattoos on the slim body of his friend. A body full of ink and secrets. A person so soft and mysterious, it felt forbidden to be so close yet so far away when he was existing despite all the odds and all the rules of life and society.

His inner Sherlock wanted to take him in and explore all of his body and analyse the stitches and scars, the ink and the moles on his skin just so he could know him better, so he could understand. It was probably just him panicking now that he decided Virgil was a safe space to reveal himself to but at the same time, it was a step for him to realise just how little he knew about the other. Family? Hobbies? Friends? He knew of some but he was not happy wit many of these and he was just so shocked about how much there was hidden under the piercings and the confident smirks that came from the same person who would just rush over to Logan and beg him to take over a costumer for him as he was sweating and trembling and biting his lips and brushing over that tongue piercing of his by pushing it against his gums. He could see it in his jaw movements whenever he had too much social pressure. And then he was such a playful tease, so  confident and slithering with his words and deeds. What was this man? Who was this man? He was a good friend at least and he gave him a comfort like Patton did but it did not seem so conditioned, not so tainted by their past and the length and depth of their relationship. It was odd but it was so free and spacious. It was like a grip that was completely open, a touch you barely felt and the support that was there the second you were about to turn your head for them and call for help. Logan was pulled from his thoughts and observations that were clustered around the mystery of his friend. When this was over, he should try and get to know Virgil more. They surely have learned more ever since they moved in together but there was still so much left unsaid. With the pressure of exams coming up and assignments being due, he just was rather busy and honestly, Virgil and Logan saw each other during work more than at home despite sharing the same room and sleeping next to each other (if not in the same bed). Virgil was rather occupied as well. If he was not working or staying in university until much later so he could finish and even hand in his art projects, then he was out late or on a run like he had explained to Logan. Apparently, he had frozen this activity for a few days when the cut incident happened and now Logan was none the wiser. He quickly pulled his own little hoodie on. It probably looked cliche but he loved his NASA merchandise. After he had visited the place with his family (he had just been a teenager and pushed them into doing something fun for once), he had never lived down the greatness of this experience. They had even taken Patton with them at this time and it had been amazing. Up until now, he had kept these memories and pictures saved in his heart and files. Well, now that he was all cuddled up in his slightly too big hoodie (it was rather hard not to be too big for Logan when he was still rather slim compared to people like Patton), he also added some regular jogging pants and made sure to take his phone and wallet with him. He felt like eating weird weird stuff. The punk was still rather next to him and chuckled when the other was ready, he just tapped his shoulder and passed him, on the way to leaving the room when Logan quickly reached out for him and pulled him close by his wrist. ‘’Wait’’, he ordered suddenly, his words in the tone of a police officer who did not joke around but was there for the serious busy and looking all gloomy and professional, ‘’Patton and Roman cannot hear about this. They will just ask questions and get worried or annoying. I..- I cant do this right now.’’ Virgil narrowed his eye, his small snub nose scrunching up a tad as his upper lip rose just enough for him to open his mouth in protest. Did Logan want to not go anymore? Was he scared? The taller man sighed and gently took Virgil’s left again. ‘’We gotta be quick and silent. We need to rush over there. We will not shut this door here. You go to the front door and open it when I join you, I just need to quickly get the keys. Patton did not have shift but we need to be back until 8 for him to not notice and also not to interfere with his schedule.’’ Virgil’s expression forged back into a smile and his nose settled as well as he nodded. It was just a few more moments and a conspiring exchange of nods before they followed Logan’s proposed steps and quickly exited the home together in joint silence. When they were outside, they only looked at one another and giggled before they descended the stairs and hurried into the cold night. *** Virgil and Logan were laying on the bonnet of the car. They were in the middle of some more or less abandoned part of the area after having driven for ages and now they were there, laying there in the middle of nothing. The darkness around them was patiently cruising around them instead of trying to swallow their light and make their bodies disappear. They were peacefully coexisting with a bunch of junk food between them, separating them but at the same time uniting them whenever they went for the food at the same time and giggled or simply smiled in silence at the little gesture of similarity. The feeling of being understood and having a common ground. Their bodies were a little twisted away from one another, their heads resting on the beginning of the windscreen’s sharp upward-angled curve. The food rested in the space next to their thighs and stopped right at their knees like the perfect length for a dress of nightly munchies. Just without the whole teenage regrets and late night pot-mistakes. Logan was drinking his milk shake while Virgil dipped onion rings into ice cream. None of them could count just how much fast food they had gotten this night but they had stopped at a few places before they felt satisfied. Now, they were just laying there, peace brushing over their limbs and the exhaustion of not having gotten enough sleep dragged at their eyes but neither of them wanted to let this night end. The stars above them illuminated their new world, their shared twosomeness. Logan lifted his lips from his cup. Yes, he had no straw or whatever. He had nearly glared daggers at the proposal of any while a sleepless and overworked student had just stared into him, with soulless posture and underpaid heart on his face. Virgil just had hissed and taken Virgil’s hand with some sort of eye roll before saying, ‘’He watched ‘Happy Feet’ and now he is really sensitive, you know?’’ Once his lips were unoccupied, they pressed together. Numb and wet from the cold drink, he ran his tongue over them in order to clean off the sweetness of his artificial peanut butter and jam cocktail of flavours and crushed ice particles with enough lactose to kill a man. Or just trigger some explosive tummy aches of death. And then, he giggled. His body curled up to his side, away from Virgil and he faced the side of the field that was in his line of vision. A bit of car lights were emitting enough human-made sun for him to see a bit of wilted nothing and brownish leaves all over. Aw, autumn could be so depressing.. and now it was almost winter, huh? Virgil immediately shot up, his body jerking into the position of dropping his food and support Logan in case his sucks for air and little gasps turned from delighted to pained and regretful. None of it. The nerd simply curled back, breathing out hard before his giggles continued, if not a little subsided by now. Eventually, he had calmed himself and turned back to face the other. ‘’I barely remember the last time I did anything so unpredictable and spontaneous, anything I just wanted to do at that moment for no reason at all. Just going out at’’, he wanted to check his watch but it was at home on his desk. Instead, he checked his phone as he brushed off the habitual movement of bringing his wrist into his vision, ‘’oh what not? Nearly 4 am by now. Can you believe that?’’ A faint smile was still playing on his lips and he let his head rest back to where it used to be and Virgil took the invitation to return into his previous position and put another ice-cream covered abomination of greasy onion rings into his mouth. Seriously, how did this kid eat any of this? Logan was rather sure Virgil was still underage. Allowed to drive and pay his bills but not allowed to drink or be ‘adult’. Weird laws. The elder student sighed and took another thick sip of his sugary treat. He would never sleep with all these amounts of monosaccharides flooding his system but well, his body had to suck it up now. H was having fun and despite his nightmares, he was still smiling and talking and able to interact with Virgil like it was the easiest thing he has ever done. ‘’Well, Virgil. Now to what we wanted to discuss in the first pla-’’, Logan started but Virgil interrupted him ‘’Okay, nerd. I respect you but give yourself the time of the day and stop being so formal. This is a personal shit thing so treat it with emotion and let yourself be upset. It had you shaken up like crazy there and it is okay to feel shit. It really is. And if someone tells you otherwise, I will eat them and we have a problem less in the world. We got a deal?’’ Logan moved his neck, turning his face just enough to glance at his friend who, in response, extended his right for him. He had his glasses on but he was sure he only saw a few fingers hanging in the scarce light, presenting themselves to him. His left extended itself without his mind following. He was still hung up on the fingers. But his fingers stretched out for the other, longing and eventually meeting them and curling around the empty hand. It felt so strange holding these fingers, it was not even a full hand to him, it felt so little, so unlike Virgil. ‘’It is a deal now, stop staring’’, Virgil laughed with a mock-offense in his tone as he nudged his shoulder against Logan’s and carefully tended to the rest of his food. Right now, it was burrito into his ice cream. There was not much left so maybe at least this crime would find its own end. ‘’Okay okay but will you stop eating gross food?’’, Logan retorted and Virgil scoffed, nearly choking on his food and the nerd was merciful enough to offer his milkshake weirdness for Virgil to mix it into his confuzzling mix of whatever the heck his taste buds had to identify in his mouth. When Virgil did not seem to choke anymore, he took another gulp of the milkshake and handed it over. ‘’I swear, Log, you need more of this attitude of yours when we are at work. With these guts, you would obliterate everyone by simply giving some assholes these deadass stares and no-bullshit tolerance.’’ He did not understand, he really did not. But he understood that Virgil gave him a compliment and laughed at a stupid thing he said. It made him feel lightheaded and warm inside, no matter how much freezing cold there was around them or pooling around the actual area of his guts when the milkshake seemed to just run down his insides like rapid snowfall. ‘’Whatever you said, Virgil, I might as well give it a try and be less patient, if you will.’’ Virgil shrugged and finally, finally finished his ice cream at last. The empty container was stuffed into the bag of trash between them that held all the wrapping and other stuff they had already discarded by consuming the different food items. One by one. He sighed and patted his stomach, a little smile on his face. Logan was not sure he had even seen him eat so much food at once. He had quite the appetite for some small guy, really. Anyway, he could not keep dodging the topic by getting desperately interested in everything else. He just set himself a mental reminder to update his journal on Virgil later on so he would learn something and maybe understand his friend a bit more. He just wanted to help him, too. ‘’Okay, well..’’, Logan started. This time for real. ‘’I was pretty young. It was before we moved and met Patton. I was still attending elementary school. We probably moved because of this all.’’ He looked up into the stars, the scattered white somewhat attracting him, soaking him in and giving him a feeling like the night sky was just a blanket curled up around him and helping him sink into the sleep. The calmness was slowly covering his body and mind and it was a comfort, so far from human but so close to understanding and a sense of belonging that it left him confused. The universe was just so much bigger and all he could think of is why he loved it so much and how trivial all seemed before him. There was something more, maybe a plan and order. ‘’My cousin is dead, Virgil’’, he eventually stated. The words were as cold as the night and Logan’s face seemed to freeze into a statue of who he could be at any other point in time. ‘’He is dead because he killed himself when I was young and it is my fault and I don’t care.’’ Virgil carefully slid up against the windshield and looked at his friend, his face unreadable and in deep rumbles of thoughts. That must have been shocking, huh? A nice friend telling you he did not care about the death of a family member. Him saying that he was at fault, maybe a major cause to the whole thing happening. Logan did not know what the minor thought, he did not know what to think or how to feel about this but he did know for sure that the hot shame was rising in him and he suddenly felt sick with the guilt and pain in his younger self’s struggle. His heartbeat was the only tune in the memorable night. It sang and it sang in its remorseful wails and sputtering helplessness before it started sobbing. Logan felt tears pricking at his eyes, the heat making him feel dizzy and out of his body, in a weird way. ‘’That is okay, Logan’’, the other said without another moment of silence to make them drift apart any further. The words fell so easily but when they hit the goal, they seemed to crash into Logan’s heart like a car into a wall at full speed. ‘’It is okay to feel or not feel. You cannot control what you feel. It is okay. You can keep going. I don’t care about what you did.’’ Logan forced a shuddering breath out of his system and discarded the rest of his milkshake in their little trash bag. He hugged his arms around himself and gave in to the violent shivers that ran through his body by now. Despite the hoodie, he was still cold. He was so cold inside because he never felt and he never lived and now he did and it was horrible and terminal. Like he could never go back to not feeling this wretching pain anymore despite the feeling f someone just slowly pulling his heart apart, peeling it like a tomato with slow yet precise movements and the patience of someone who wanted to inflict high-quality torture. ‘’It is my fault, Virgil. It is my fault. He mentioned me in his suicide note, he listed me as reason. I did this to him, I destroyed a whole family!’’, he cried out and curled up, his tall legs coming back up to his chest to suffocate him further. The weight on his conscience was much heavier and breath-taking than his body felt. His voice faded into a mere whine, his wails downgrading into the volume of a pleading whisper when he repeated his words, his self-blaming, his accusations. ‘’I did it. I killed a man, I made him, I did that - Virgil, I killed someone, it is my fault, my fault, my fault!’’, he puled. His words were nothing but the twisted reflection of his despair and personal all-time low as he dug for all the shit he had on himself, all the crap and pain and shame he had buried within him and was now trying to get out. He was in a sinking nutshell of a boat. It had a leak and he could not help but keep staring at it as he felt his body being more and more immersed in the salty depth of the abandoned ocean around him. Salty like his dishonorable tears he still shed despite him being at fault. He was undeserving of any pain and sadness, considering he has triggered the whole grief with his own selfishness. And he was collecting the water, oh he was. Logan was gathering it with all he had, his hands, his shoes he had taken off and used as bowl in order to let the water back into the ocean, throw it out of his little nutshell. He was prolonging the inevitable. It was trying to postpone death when it was a certainty to come but he faced worse than death, he was living a life of guilt, subjected to the own pain he had sentenced himself with in an attempt at repentance. But then there were warm hands around him and Virgil pulled him closer, pulled him over to the other side of the junk barrier between them and held him close, let him cry against his shoulder and keep repeating his shame again and again as he softly hummed and rocked the other. Logan just wanted to sleep and never feel again, just stop being so miserable and never go back at all. ‘’That is bullshit, Log. You did not do a thing. You did not give him anything to hurt himself, you did not do anything that could have made him do it. You were just a kid, you were dumb and unknowing and you tried to make it and that is okay.’’ Virgil gently brushed over his arms and Logan nodded but he did not know whether his heart understood the words like his mind did. He processed the words, he had made sense of them but he did not feel them, not yet.. it was not all, it was not the whole story. ‘’But I did- I... I did!’’, he stubbornly spat through his teeth as more snot and tears mixed on his face and washed away the mask of a good man to finally reveal the ugliness beneath. He was a monster, a killer, a selfish criminal and he had never once tried to be a man about it and face his fears, accept his guilt and live with it. No, he was still denying and now he was even manipulating Virgil into supporting his personal denial. It was ugly, so ugly, he was so ugly. ‘’What did you do, Logan. It is okay. We can figure it out, we can get behind this together.’’ The sweet smell of a promise, the warm notion of relief and forgiveness was shining before him, wrapping him up and letting him breathe out his despondency. Virgil was the light to over his shadowy self the turn of events he was asking for, the possibility to finally stop hurting and instead change the there and now, feel the past fade into the black and white of long forgotten memories. ‘’I... He told me he loved me’’, he breathed out, his tone flattening as he steadily forced himself down to deep and intense breaths that hurt but felt so soothing as well. ‘’He.. loved me and I.. I was.. I did not. .. I told him to stop b-because he touched me. He touched me a lot and so often and I .. It hurt, it was bad and I hated it. I hated it!!’’ He felt his face grow hot again, the wrecking heat finally raising his temperature and settling the agony in his heart. ‘’He.. He would watch cartoons with me’’, he hiccuped softly as his voice turned from enraged and fierce back into the begging tone he had obtained in his miserable tears, ‘’he would watch them and touch me and told me to not move and it was so bad. I did not want that and he hurt me, he hurt me so much but he loved me and and-...’’ Virgil gently brushed over his back and carefully hugged him closer. ‘’Shh’’, he hummed gently and cradled the other closer, ‘’It is okay. It is okay. You are with me, you are safe. You are an adult now. You are in the fields with me.’’ Logan acknowledged the words mutely, his head nodding them off and he took another courageous breath of sweet, cold oxygen. It bruised his lungs and wrung his wind pipe from the inside. His throat was hurting so much and his voice still felt hoarse and broken from all his crying he entitled himself to. ‘’I was sick of him hurting me. It was so mean and he was so sweaty and he forced- He.. he forced me and told me to be silent and then gave me things and gifts and was so nice. I could not hate him but I did and he never stopped. Virgil, he never stopped but I asked him too because it was so painful and he made me bleed a lot and it hurt. It hurt so bad!’’ Virgil gently held his friend and he nodded. ‘’I know. I know, Logan. You did nothing wrong. You never did anything bad. It is good you told him how you felt. Lies are mean. You are not responsible for how you feel, it is not up to you to make others feel better about how you feel. You were just honest, Log. You were just an honest kid and he hurt you so much and left you with all this guilt.’’ Their hug became more as Logan broke under his words and acknowledged the meaning. He was free, he was gone. Virgil had broken down his own prison of guilt and told him it was fine. It was fine. It was okay. He had never done a mean thing, right? ‘’You did good, Log. You did a very good job with all these things. If he had loved you for real, he would have respected you and your needs, he would not have forced or hurt you.’’ His heart squeezed painfully as he pronounced his own daily mantra. ‘’Love is about loving someone for who they are and wanting the best for them. He did not love you when he made you feel bad about being yourself and feeling what you feel.’’ Logan nodded again and again. They sat together and cried longer and longer. The sky was forming and changing around the feelings they shared in their little bubble. It was so long and tired until they got back.