# How Not To Graduate 4: Friendships

By: TheDragonBoy

## Content

Chapter 4: Friendships

And everything had been going fine, at least for the first few minutes.

They’d gotten to class on time, and Jamie had even started coaching Jack on how exactly he should go about talking to the predators around campus.

“You think it’ll just work if I say, ‘No, I don’t want to be your lunch’?” Jack asked dubiously. That sounded like some lame anti-bullying campaign: ‘just say no and they’ll let you go!’

“Erm… maybe try being a bit softer? Like, ‘I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to get eaten right now’, maybe? Most predators are really nice, I’d hate to hurt their feelings…”

“Clearly you never met Arthur,” Jack grumbled under his breath, but took the advice to heart.

As the two chatted, they found a couple seats together in the classroom, settled in…

…And less than ten seconds later, a golden retriever with a big, gurgling belly showed up and casually sat himself down right next to Jack.

…But that was fine! Everything was still absolutely fine.

Well, mostly fine. Sure, it made poor Jack nervous given the canine gullet he’d stared down just a few minutes earlier, but it was far from his first time sitting next to a digesting human in a class.

He couldn’t help but notice that the human inside seemed unnaturally still, yet… also not still enough. Usually, if Jack saw a big, non-struggling lump in a predator’s belly, he assumed that the human inside was… well, more soup than human at that point. But that golden-furred belly still had the clear outline of a fully solid person, and every so often, Jack saw them move inside.

And it wasn’t just the natural, kneading motions of a predator’s stomach, either -- Jack intimately knew what those looked like, he’d seen those movements from the inside and outside. No, the human inside this golden retriever’s belly was alive, but… just calmly shifting ever so often, as if repositioning himself to get comfortable. Even more odd was how studiously the golden retriever was taking notes, as if he didn’t even notice his prey’s abnormal lack of fear?

Needless to say, Jack spent the majority of his literature class glancing uncomfortably at the burbling dome next to him. If uncomfortable proximity to a belly had been his biggest problem of the class, he would have gotten off easy. But at that moment the teacher spoke:

“Now, for the rest of the period, I’d like for you all to form groups of three, and practice applying some of these writing concepts in a collaborative setting.”

A group assignment? Jack thought, Sure, that’ll take my mind off that dog’s stomach. I’ll just team up with Jamie, we can get to know each other, and -- wait, did she say three!?

“Do you two need a third?” asked the golden retriever he’d been awkwardly eyeing all class.

Jack’s nerves spiked, and his words caught in his throat, keeping him silent just long enough for Jamie to reply first. “Sure! We’d love to have you join. I’m Jamie, and this here is Jack.”

So much for Jamie ‘keeping a good eye on me’, Jack thought in despair. He hadn’t expected to get thrown to the wolves -- or rather, thrown to the dogs? -- quite that fast…

“Nice to meet you, I’m Alexis!” the dog said with a smile. His belly gave a coincidentally-timed wet gurgle -- though only Jack seemed to notice. “I’ll admit I’m not the best student, so I’m a little lost: do either of you have ideas for the prompt?”

Jamie pondered. Jack’s hopes soared -- maybe he could just get away with being quiet! Then Jamie did exactly what Jack hoped he wouldn’t do. “Hm… Not sure, what about you, Jack?”

Despite his new friend’s visible hesitance, Jamie smiled proudly. This was the perfect chance for a shy new student to learn to talk to preds! It was always easier to start with something boring like classwork before working up to the far more enjoyable topic of settling into a warm belly.

“Well, um…”

Jack scrambled to come up with an answer on the spot, but he was still mentally preoccupied with the thoughts (and sounds) of digestion from only a few feet away. Normally talking his way out of situations like this didn’t work very well: he was more used to a world where humans kept their distance, kept their heads low, and hoped nearby predators weren’t feeling particularly hungry.

But since that was what he already had on his mind… “Huh. I guess I do have one idea…”

From both sides, Jack’s classmates looked at him with open curiosity, so he mustered up his courage and started to talk. He was definitely nervous at first, but as he started describing his ‘idea’, he earned matching looks of genuine interest, and that helped him find his verbal footing.

Slowly, Jack got more comfortable and confident. This wasn’t too bad, he thought! This ‘Alexis’ guy already had a full belly, he wasn’t making any predatory moves. Besides, Jack told himself, he’d done much braver things to much scarier preds. He once punched Arthur in the werewolf’s smug snout, he could deal with an hour chatting about writing to a friendly (if full-bellied) dog!

The three set to work, crafting prose and dialog and themes. Jack smiled: huh, the three of them made a good team! And a moment later, Alexis spoke up. “Oh, Jack, I had a quick question!”

“Yeah, what’s up?” Jack asked, only paying half attention. He was trying to find the perfect phrase to complete a new sentence he was working on, it was taking up most of his focus.

“So, I noticed you staring at my belly! Do you want to slip inside?” Alexis asked. “I just had lunch, so no pressure, and I’d have to ask her if she was okay with company. But if you really want me to eat you, I think I can make room for you by the end of the period?”

Jack blinked. Normally the marked human would be pulling out his wand at this point, preparing for an inevitable pounce, but… Alexis’s offer sounded sincere and oddly tentative, for a predator.

“Um, I…” Jack looked at Jamie helplessly, as Jamie pantomimed a ‘go on, you’re doing great’ gesture with thumbs up. Alexis just waited, looking patient and hopeful with a bright smile and an enthusiastically wagging tail. “I-I appreciate the offer?” Jack tried, repeating Jamie’s brief ‘talking to preds’ suggestion on the way to class. “But I-I don’t want to get eaten right now.”

“Oh, no worries then!” Alexis said cheerfully. “Just thought I’d ask. You do smell delicious, Jack, so I bet you probably have your pick of predators. Anyway, let’s get back to work!”

But before they could write any more -- and before Jack could wrap his head around ‘wait, that… that actually worked???’ -- the teacher appeared. “So, how goes the assignment, you three?”

“Oh, Jack’s an amazing writer!” Alexis praised. Jack blinked, flattered despite his confusion. “He’s telling a whole ‘what if’ story about a strange fantasy world where humans aren’t willing. It’s so tragic and dystopian yet beautiful, how gentle loving relationships can still blossom there despite the dangers…”

“That’s such a creative idea!” the teacher encouraged. “What a brilliant work of fiction!”

“F-fiction? B-but it’s all real!” Jack replied, confused.

“Yes! Good! Make your characters real to the audience!” she told him. “Keep going!”

“But it’s actually real…” Jack protested, even as the teacher walked away to check on the next group. Both Jamie and Alexis looked politely doubtful at his words, though, and after a moment Jack just resigned himself to let it go. After all, if there was one thing Jack had learned on his first day at Nom U, it was that apparently you had to say crazy things in order to get by.

_________________________

Fiona had been keeping her snout on her boyfriend’s marked scent for the past few minutes: she’d been hoping to bump into him again all day, but the breaks in their classes hadn’t quite lined up, and her combination of concern for his safety and desire for his company had been steadily building. Right up to the moment when she finally saw him, as they both finished class.

“Jack!” the werewolf called happily. She rushed toward him, tail wagging: he’d made it through his first day in one piece, rather than inside some predator’s gullet! And from the smile on Jack’s face as he heard her voice, she suspected that if he’d had a tail, it would be wagging too.

“Fi! Hi…” Jack called back, bracing himself at the last moment as it suddenly became clear that the charging predator had no intention of stopping. Without even thinking, Fiona threw her arms around her boyfriend in a tight hug, pulling him in close for a good proper squeeze.

*glorsh*

As they collided, Jack felt himself pressed a fair distance into the chyme-filled bulge filling out his girlfriend’s belly -- like tripping and falling into a water bed. The sharp increase in pressure suddenly pushed a few more liters of well-digested ex-human mush deeper into her intestines: Jack felt that mush fold and slosh all around him, as he sunk into her impulsive embrace.

Fiona, feeling those same sensations from her side, quickly released her human with a slight blush. “Sorry, um, I guess I missed you,” the werewolf muttered, a bit embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack replied, only a bit more composed. “You weren’t the only one…”

(The wag in the wolf’s tail instantly returned.)

“Awwww, en-gee-el, you two are so cute together!” Vicky said, butting in.

They both jumped: in their enthusiasm, they’d both forgotten the vixen was even there. Jack and Fiona both blushed deeper and conspicuously looked away from each other, before the bashful werewolf cleared her throat and made an attempt to continue the conversation.

“Any other predators give you trouble?” Fiona asked, worried about Jack’s safety as always.

“No, not really? I mean, I guess there was a sort of close call? But Jamie’s advice really helped a lot.” Jack gestured toward his new friend, who actually had recognized the signs of a leaping, affectionate predator from extensive experience, and had taken two steps back to not get bowled over in Fiona’s overenthusiasm.

The wolf turned to grin at him thankfully, tail wagging, as Vicky beamed proudly -- her pet had proved to be a certified Good Boy™! Jamie smiled back in appreciation. “Glad I could help!”

As they started their walk home, Vicky struck up a conversation with Fiona about this whole new ‘hunting’ idea -- apparently, Vicky’s friends wanted to have a ‘hunting lesson’ on the weekend to learn this cool new skill! And as the predators happily chattered away about their future meals, their (off-the-menu) human companions got to talking about their hobbies.

“How have you never heard of Hu-Man?” Jack asked incredulously. “He’s such a classic!”

“I… I don’t read that many comics…” Jamie said, a little defensively. “But I’ve played all the Vorestice League video games, I recognize a lot of comic characters…”

“Video… game?” Jack said blankly, sounding out the unfamiliar phrase.

There was an incredulous pause. “How have you never heard of a video game?” Jamie said.

Even Vicky trailed off mid-sentence. She stared at Jack as if he’d grown a second head, then whipped her gaze to Fiona. The werewolf looked just as blank as her boyfriend.

There was an even longer pause. “Did you two grow up under a rock?” Vicky finally asked. She waved a paw. “Don’t answer that, Wolfy. But I hope you don’t have any plans tonight!”

Fiona blinked. “Wait, why? Are we going out hunting? I’m not really too hungry yet…”

Vicky grinned. “Oh, sweet summer child…” she said, patting Fiona’s paw condescendingly. “As absolutely satisfying as it is eating humans, let me be the first to inform you that it’s even more satisfying to absolutely crush them playing Super Vorio Brothers.”

“That’s odd, I didn’t know you’d ever won a match against me!” Jamie teased. “I think you just want to play against someone you can actually beat for once, Vicky~”

“Don’t listen to this doubter, he cheats by distracting me with his delicious flavor…” Vicky said loftily. “But just you wait, Wolfy: I’m gonna blow your mind tonight!” The vixen paused, replaying that sentence in her head, then blushed. “Wait, um, not like that!” She winked. “But hey, y’know, if you did wanna have some fun after, there’s worse ways to spend a night~”

Jamie and Vicky kept playfully bickering as they kept walking, and as Fiona and Jack looked at each other in confusion. “Do you have… any idea what those two are talking about?” the werewolf asked in a whisper, and her equally mystified boyfriend silently shook his head ‘no’.

They slowly made their way back home to the Rava household, all four chatting comfortably. Twilight had fallen, and the air was filled with sounds of nature: birds chirping, frogs croaking, and gulping sounds as predators stuffed themselves with late lunches and early dinners…

(Accompanied by some crasser sounds too, sounds that made both Jack and Fiona blush.)

Vicky led the group over to the family TV, setting out a few of her favorite games: Maw-dern Vorefare, Poké-nom, God of Vore, The Elder Snacks, Vortnite, BioSnack, and Gas Effect.

Despite Jack’s initial hesitance at seeing the vore-themed titles, he quickly got the hang of it. Fiona, on the other hand, proved to be hopeless: she could barely move her character in a straight line, much less actually play effectively. The werewolf quietly growled at the screen.

“Wow, Jack, you’re a natural!” Jamie praised. Vicky, for her part, grumbled irritably in harmony with Fiona, as she somehow lost yet another round to the tasty guest who should’ve been easy prey for her well-honed vulpine videogaming skills. “You’ve really never played before?”

“Oh! Yeah, this whole ‘video game’ thing is all new to me…” Jack admitted. “But I practice with my wand every night, so maybe that’s helped me build up dexterity?”

Jamie and Vicky glanced at each other before bursting out laughing. Jack and Fiona once again looked mystified. “I’m sure you have lots of fun playing with your wand, Jack,” Vicky finally managed, still gasping for breath. “But if you want to make Wolfy happy, I think you should keep practicing, and get more creative with how and where you use your fingers…”

Jack and Fiona looked at each other, somehow feeling like they should be embarrassed but not quite being able to put a finger (or a paw) on why…

…but before they could contemplate further, Mira popped up behind the group, conspicuously clearing her throat. Vicky startled upon seeing her mother, her tail fluffing up in fright.

“Victoria Octavia Rava!” came Mira’s familiar voice. “It is 2am on their first school night! Stop being a bad influence on our poor guests…”

“But mom, they asked us to show them…” the younger vixen protested, shamelessly lying.

Mira narrowed her eyes. “Uh huh, a likely story. Now, off to bed with you all! You need to sleep, and more importantly, you’re hogging the TV while my favorite soap opera is on…”

“Heck -- this was fun, guys, but we, uh… We really should get upstairs. Like, now,” Vicky admitted nervously. “Mum is touchy about her, uh… alone time, when dad’s out of town…”

The salacious tone of Vicky’s voice made it very clear what the younger vixen was talking about.

“You have an entire bedroom, mum…” Vicky complained, as she gathered up her stuff and hurried to the stairs. “Can’t you just take care of yourself up there?”

“But the couch is much more comfortable…” Mira replied, sounding absolutely unashamed.

Fiona and Jack glanced at each other and fled upstairs: a brave human and a brave werewolf were no match for a horny fox-milf, when they stood between her and her romance shows…

“Wow, I can’t believe we stayed up so late playing with that thing,” Fiona remarked as they stepped into their room and closed the door. “I didn’t even notice the time passing…”

“Yeah, no kidding… It was pretty fun, though,” Jack agreed.

“Fun for you maybe,” the werewolf scoffed playfully.

“Oh, come on, you weren’t that bad, Fi!” he insisted. From the way Fiona’s tail was gently swaying he knew that the werewolf had actually enjoyed it, despite her competitive streak.

“...It was pretty cool,” Fiona reluctantly admitted. “I still prefer hunting, though.”

“Speaking of hunting…” Jack said thoughtfully. “Despite how odd this place is, I think this might be the first day I’ve ever had since I got marked where nobody tried to eat me…”

Fiona blinked. “What are you talking about? I watched that husky pick you up and taste you, right in the middle of the hallway…”

“I’m… not sure if she actually tried to ‘eat’ me?” Jack admitted. “I mean, clearly she was excited by the possibility, but… as soon as I said no, she backed off. It was weird…”

There was a slight lull in their conversation, as they both digested that new information (and, in Fiona’s case, also digested her human breakfast). Jack stepped over into the bathroom to start washing up for the night, leaving the door open so the two could talk.

“I guess we were so busy playing games that we never even really talked about our first day, huh?” he said at last. They’d spent most of the time apart, after all, focused on different subjects and hanging out with different species. “You learn anything useful in your classes?”

Fiona thought for a second. “Hm, apparently the preds around here call themselves pelli?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jack recalled. “I was wondering about that.”

“Yeah. And they’re all pretty nice, but… well, they kinda all seem…” Fiona hesitated for a second, awkwardly trailing off. “...like, super horny?”

“Oh, I am so glad you saw it too, Fi…” Jack admitted, relieved. “I thought it was just me.”

“Nope, you’re right on the mark as usual. You’ve got a good nose for people!” Fiona told him. “Seriously, if I didn’t know better, I’d almost think that Vicky was flirting with me…”

“It’s not just the predators, though. All the humans seemed pretty ‘excited’ too -- I mean, Jamie showed me some of the ‘comments’ on that ‘video’ thingie Vicky made, when she recorded you hunting this morning? And, there were, like, tons of people saying…”

Now it was Jack’s turn to trail off awkwardly… but as usual the unlikely pair were more than in sync enough for the message to come across.

Fiona’s ears perked up curiously. “Wait, I thought those were all other predators making those comments,” she said, joining Jack in the bathroom as he finished his nightly routine.

“So did I!” Jack told her. “That would make more sense, right? But Jamie swore a bunch of them were human. Said he even recognized a few of their names from our class…”

“Wow… I’m, uh, not used to humans thinking of me like that. You know, besides you.”

“Tell me about it…” Jack agreed. Back home, he’d never met another human who’d dare to admit a crush on a predator -- or at least he was the only one to be public about such a crush without quickly getting crushed by said predator. The idea of a bunch of other humans publicly calling his girlfriend hot? Especially after seeing Fi in her element, as a predator on the hunt?

It left Jack filled with an unfamiliar mix of emotions. Pride, but also…

“Wait, you’re not jealous, are you?” Fiona playfully accused, with a dramatic gasp.

“Jealous? No, of course not…” Jack insisted, mildly flustered at how easily his girlfriend had seen right through him. Admittedly the werewolf did have a bit more social experience than the marked boy who’d been locked away for ten years, but… “Well okay, maybe a little, but…”

The werewolf gently bumped up against him. She offered Jack a soft, teasing little smile. “Don’t worry. I know I let a lot of humans into my stomach, but I only let one into my heart.”

Jack rolled his eyes at his girlfriend’s sappy joke, but smiled and blushed nonetheless.

“Um, speaking of which,” the werewolf added, “mind giving us a little privacy for a sec?”

It took Jack a second to recover from her teasing and connect the dots. “Oh! Um, s-sure.”

Jack finished brushing his teeth, and politely stepped outside so Fiona could close the bathroom door. His girlfriend’s belly had been right next to him for most of the evening, so he’d watched as her breakfast slowly softened, until the once-human shape transformed into a sloshing sphere of soupy chyme. And even that had slowly shrunk, the bulge of her breakfast migrating lower down in Fiona’s abdomen, so clearly that human was now, um… He blushed. Getting close to the exit. Probably not all of her breakfast was ready to leave, though: he’d seen his girlfriend eat enough people that he knew the rhythms of her body, and he suspected it would take a few more hours before her belly was flat and empty again. She’d probably make another visit tomorrow morning.

Jack shook his head, trying to clear away the thoughts of his girlfriend’s digestive tract. The poor overwhelmed human definitely did not need to think about what exactly his own girlfriend’s body was doing to another human right on the other side of that door, only a couple feet away.

“I-I’m gonna get into bed, okay?” he called through the door, sounding a little awkward.

“Okay,” came a mildly-strained and rather distracted reply, but Jack quickly walked away before he could accidentally overhear any other noises. “I’ll come join you in… (huff…) a minute…”

Double checking that the window was already safely open, Jack hurried over to their shared bed and quickly stripped away all his clothes, down to his shorts. His heart leapt a bit in his chest as memories from the night before returned. And in all honesty, his heart wasn’t the only part of his body those memories were affecting -- all the more reason to get under the covers more quickly.

There was a distant ‘flush’ noise from the restroom, which Jack resolutely refused to think about.

By the time Fiona emerged, with fangs brushed and pressure relieved, he was safely concealed from view. Jack couldn’t help noticing that he had been right; while the wolf was certainly several tens of pounds lighter, she still had a noticeable bulge from the large meal continuing to work its way through her system. Just like him, she glanced over at the window to double-check it was open -- the last thing either of them wanted was for Jack to take an unexpected midnight plunge into that leftover pool of post-human slop. Satisfied, she started over toward the lightswitch.

“You, um, ready for bed?” Fiona asked, definitely just making sure he was ready for the lights to go out, and not at all savoring the thought of once again curling up next to her boyfriend.

“Sure,” said boyfriend replied, with only the slightest stumble. His pause was just barely enough for Fiona to pick up on… but not enough for Jack to be certain, one way or another, if she had.

Fiona couldn’t help but wonder if Jack was as nervous -- and excited -- for their second night together as she was. While she usually tried hard to tune out his marked scent, she guiltily took a tiny whiff… and while his constant, regrettably-delectable aroma dominated, the werewolf did clearly notice a hint of something else, an age-old biological signal of her boyfriend’s… interest. If Jack had been a predator, he might have noticed quite a similar scent coming from her…

If only to hide her burgeoning smirk, Fiona flicked off the lights with a click of her claw. Walking back over to their shared bed through the fresh dark, her nocturnal eyes caught every detail as Jack rolled over to face away from her, faithfully keeping to his end of their deal.

Passingly, she wondered how much he’d actually be able to see of her, if he had been watching.

Not that she’d want him to, of course!

…No, definitely not, not at all…

Fiona shook the thought from her head and began pulling down her skirt in her relative privacy. After only a few moments filled with the sound of fabric on fur, the mostly-bare werewolf gingerly lifted the edge of the blanket with one claw, and eagerly slipped herself in underneath.

Jack felt his breath catch in his throat as her arrival gently rocked the mattress. The soft covers shifting against his skin, the cool rush of bedroom air coming and going, and then giving way altogether as the radiant warmth of Fiona’s body neared his own.

Jack felt a trill of anticipation run down his body. This wasn’t like last time where he’d been more or less in control, able to see where Fi was and adjust himself accordingly. No, this time he was just lying there, his back turned, as his werewolf girlfriend quietly approached his semi-naked form. He had no idea what Fiona would do… but at the same time he trusted her implicitly.

Thankfully, for the sake of Jack’s poor heart, he wasn’t kept in mystery long. Though it may have felt like quite a long moment to him, Fiona didn’t waste any time after slipping into bed: despite her own nerves, she very quickly reached out and pulled her Jack in close, cradling him much like she had the night before. Though this time, there was one, fairly noticeable difference.

*skglorp*

Jack found himself pressed in tight against a warm, yielding surface: Fiona’s fur was soft, but underneath he could feel the liquid remains of her human breakfast shifting and sliding and squelching to give him room -- the ex-human in her stomach quite literally pushed aside to make room for the ‘human in her heart’.

*guuuurg*

In the darkness, Fiona bit her lip guiltily. Had she really been in so much of a rush to savor the feel of Jack pressed up against her again that she hadn’t thought about her belly between them? Did he mind? Had she made him uncomfortable? This wasn’t the first time that her nature as a predator had come between them, even if tonight’s situation was a little more literal than usual.

“Sorry…” Fiona whispered, her muzzle pressed up right up against Jack’s ear. Every breath she took was flavored by his scent, and a little drip of drool nearly slipped from her mouth.

“It--it’s, um, alright,” Jack murmured, overwhelmed by a swirl of powerful, conflicting feelings.

Fiona’s tail drooped. She’d dumped a whole mess of awkwardness onto an already quite awkward situation, she thought. Fiona quietly released her gentle grip and started to pull back a bit, to make Jack more comfortable, and give him room to pull further away from--

“N-no,” Jack quickly interrupted. He reached up with one hand to touch hers, before she could withdraw. He’d moved without any conscious thought, simply reacting to the idea of losing his girlfriend’s touch. He scrambled to find the right words. “I-it’s alright, really! …You, um, don’t have to…” He found himself gently pulling her arm further over him again. “I-I don’t mind.”

In the dark and quiet of their bedroom, Jack could hear a familiar little rustling sound, which he recognized as Fiona’s tail wagging beneath the bedding. Without another word, her arm slipped over him again, more confident this time, and once more pressed him up tight against her belly.

*squelch* *blurb*

Fiona felt her human’s heart rate climb, his breathing get a little faster and heavier, as she held him there, just like that, safe and secure in her arms.

Jack felt a familiar flurry of conflicting emotions dance around his head, making detours through his chest. He could very clearly feel the shape of her stomach and intestines, stretched and filled to the brim with nutrients that had once been part of another man, just a few hours ago. The only thing separating him from her long-gone breakfast was a mere inch or two of fur and muscle -- that, and Fiona’s feelings for him, the love he could feel radiating from her body like the warmth of her digestion. And he loved her right back, didn’t he? More than enough to be cuddled against her, to savor every second and sensation of closeness… dissolving human and all.

*guuuurgle*

He felt a little liquid shift against his back, as her innards pushed a bit more of her meal along.

…that guy really, actually wanted to be in there…? Jack wondered. Fiona’s breakfast certainly had seemed pretty happy with his position in the moments Jack had known him, before getting justifiably squelched by his girlfriend. But even with that rather firm firsthand evidence, and even with everything he heard from his new human friend during his first full day in Nomshire, he just couldn’t quite reconcile that idea with all the years he’d spent frantically avoiding that exact fate.

*blurble*

…but he would be here for six whole months. Who knew what could change in all that time? Today had felt more warm and comfortable -- much like Fiona's now-squishier embrace.

Jack settled into his girlfriend's pudgy belly, nestling closer to the warmth of his wolf amidst the continued sounds of her satisfied digestion, and quietly let himself drift off to sleep.

Originally Published: 2-Sep-2024