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How Not To Become Lunch: 56 - Recover
Jack was a bulge in his bedcovers. He’d made a bit of a mess of his room last night, left a slew of scattered items he hadn’t bothered to pick back up, and when he did finally crawl into bed, he never did actually get much sleep. And since then he hadn’t really moved, aside from a few tosses and turns; the indistinct outline of his body against the bedding, largely still but for a few occasional shifts, were like the final struggles of a devoured human succumbing to their new digestive home.
A subject Jack’s mind was not far from.
He’d cried for Ruby, for her smile, for their date that never came. Then he’d cried for Zach. And then he’d simply cried until the tears left him.
His mom had come to check on him in the morning. She’d taken one look at him and told him she’d call in to school and say he was sick. She’d tried to cheer him up, but he was rather inconsolable, hardly even speaking, and the best she could do was bring him food, encourage him to eat, and be there for him in case he needed her.
In contrast to his loss for words, Jack’s mind continued to race, gradually slowing down as the hours crept by. At first he had been fixated on the recent events: the meeting turned massacre, the moment he’d seen Zach packed into a furry bulge. But eventually he found himself thinking over all the things that had happened to him over the past three weeks, all the changes his life had undergone. He’d moved back home, finally gotten to go to school, finally reunited with his best friend, made new friends, things had been looking so bright. But things had fallen apart just as quickly, he’d lost friend after friend and now here he was staying home from school and dreading having to return.
He couldn’t face the idea of going out just to lose more friends, to fend off more hungry predators, all for what? A couple lessons? The only thing that had really motivated him to attend in the first place was…
Well, that was the thought that troubled him most, that returned over and over. Even more than the thoughts of friends who had been devoured, came the thought of the werewolf who had done it; the werewolf who’d saved his life, taken his friends’, smiled and laughed with him, ditched him to fend for himself, grew up with him, played with him, talked with him, argued with him-
He couldn’t stand it. He was furious with her and he hated it. He hated being angry at her. He knew her; this isn’t how it was supposed to be. Out of all the things he had gained and regained and lost over the past three weeks, the one thing that he just could not bear to accept was that he was losing her.
Somehow, more than anything else, he just wished he could go back to when they had been friends, when they’d hung out together, when they’d sat together at lunch, had sleepovers, even when they’d foiled her little sister’s plans to eat him. Fiona had been his best friend for years. Even when he’d been away, he’d never forgotten about her, never stopped wanting to see her again, and now here they were in the same town and here he was sitting in bed.
Just like he’d been for hours and hours, watching the sun climb and dip as the world kept turning.
And then the doorbell rang.
*ding-dong*
…
Fiona walked down the hall, with a neutral expression and a still tail. She’d just come from history class, her last period of the day, and was on her way out. Her belly was flat, with only the very last traces of her blissful meal lingering somewhere deep within. It had left her, as all her meals do, now with only her thoughts.
She’d had something on her mind that day: thoughts of a person who had come to mind more and more as the person in her stomach- or more accurately her intestines- had continued to dissolve away. Jack hadn’t come to school that day. She asked one of their teachers, who thankfully had told her that he’d called in sick, but his absence still… well, it pulled at her.
It’s true she hadn’t been around him much this past week, but she’d always known he was there, that they could run into each other, maybe have a quick chat if she popped over. It was almost surprising how quickly she’d gotten used to him being there again since he’d moved back to town, so much so that his absence seemed to leave a noticeable hole.
*thwack*
“Wah!?” Fiona flinched and dug in her heels, startled out of her haze as a pink streak tore past right in front of her. She took a quick step back just before a human came sailing through the air, nearly hitting her as they flew.
“AhhHHHHHhhh-” *SQUELCH-GULP*
Following the path with her eyes, she saw the unfortunate student disappear quickly into a huge, amphibian gullet, wrapping around them in a single motion as the momentum buried them inside. And when the hungry maw sealed shut with a meaty swallow, Fiona saw a familiar face.
“Sorry about that- oh, hey Fiona,” Lily said, recognizing the werewolf and waddling a bit closer. “Haven’t seen you in, like, a while huh?”
“Hi Lily, yeah, I’ve just been kinda… ‘busy’ I guess.”
“Yeah, I know what it’s like. Grizz told me you made it into the advanced class and started hanging with all the cool preds. I know when I started dating Grizz, I didn’t have time for nobody else.”
Fiona’s tail drooped a bit. Maybe she had been neglecting her other friends just a touch.
“Sorry,” Fiona offered. “That was a nice catch, by the way.”
“Oh, this?” Lily gestured to her freshly squirming belly. “Kinda skipped out on lunch today and I just couldn’t wait till dinner. Oh, speaking of catches, I haven’t smelled Jack around today, and I noticed you had a nice one melting away when you came in this morning. You end up gobbling him after all?”
“What!? No!!”
“Okay! Geeze, girl, I was just asking. I thought maybe after what happened on Friday you two might not be chummy anymore, that’s all.”
Fiona’s tail drooped lower, as did her ears.
“…Anyway, I’m gonna hop on over to my boyfriend and see if he feels like carrying his GF and her belly home,” Lily said. “See ya.”
“See ya,” Fiona replied.
The frog girl started on her way, and after a moment, Fiona did as well. The werewolf continued her path toward the exit, renewed thoughts running through her head.
Not that Jack had any right to yell at her for hanging out with her new friends, but maybe she hadn’t made quite enough of an effort to include her other friends as well. Of course, at first, she hadn’t felt comfortable. She’d just been invited to sit with the pack, she couldn’t just start bringing all her friends over along with her. But now maybe she could give it a try.
She was sure Jack would appreciate it. With all the talk of hunting and eating humans around the table, she’d been… hesitant to bring him over. After all, she would never want to associate him with her dietary choices. But she couldn’t just leave him out forever; maybe it was time to start introducing him? A human sitting so far into the pred side would probably turn a few heads, at first, and she definitely needed to have him make up with Pyre, but just imagine how safe he would be with her entire pack guarding him every lunch period? He’d never have to be afraid in the cafeteria again! Certainly that would go a long way in making up for accidentally eating his friend and giving him a little unintentional scare over the weekend.
Her spirits lifted a bit with the decision as she stepped outside and inhaled the fresh afternoon air. A few paces down the steps her nose caught a familiar scent, and then her eyes caught a familiar face- several in fact.
“Fi, over here,” Arthur called. The werewolf, along with the entire rest of their pack, was standing just off the path, waving her over.
She smiled and waved back, turning to head in their direction. They all seemed quite happy, probably still feeling a hint of the thrill from yesterday’s amazing hunt.
“What’s up, guys?” she asked.
“Well, to celebrate the most successful hunt in school history, I decided to plan a little get-together,” Arthur replied.
“A party?” Fiona questioned.
“That’s right,” Mort chimed in.
“Just us,” Arthur gestured to the pack. “At my place, tonight. Think you can come?”
“Tonight? At your place?” Fiona repeated, trying hard to keep the excitement from her voice, though she couldn’t keep it from her tail as it began swinging back and forth at an increasing pace. “Sure!”
“Perfect,” he replied.
“Now it’s a party,” Udon cheered happily.
“Oh- um- one thing,” Fiona added, her tail hitched. “Could I invite Jack too?”
The excitement of the entire group ‘hitched’. A few glances were shared around.
“You want to invite your human?” Arthur asked in a neutral, inoffensive tone. “To a predator party?”
“You guys haven’t really met him, you know?” she said, somewhat timidly, “I think you’d like him.” She glanced at the dragon boy who seemed particularly unhappy with the suggestion and added. “I want to give him a chance to apologize to Pyre, so we can all be friends.”
Arthur seemed to consider for a moment as he glanced to the other silent predators, and then with a smile replied.
“Of course you can bring your human.”
Fiona’s face lit up, and her tail instantly doubled its pace.
“Thanks Arthur! I’ll see you guys tonight.”
…
*deep breath*
*ding-dong*
… *click* *creak*
“Fiona! Good to see you again,” Mrs. Eten greeted with a smile.
“Hi, Jane,” the werewolf replied, hiding her nerves.
“You look beautiful.” The mother complimented, then she gasped. “Wait, is that one of mine?”
“Yes,” Fiona admitted with a bashful nod and a smile.
Mrs. Eten was, of course, referring to the dress Fiona was wearing. She was going to a party with Arthur, after all, so she’d had to stop home and get ready. And to Jane’s credit, this outfit was perfect pretty pred-wear; not so long that it got in the way of running, with a comfortably-sized cutout for a full belly and a nice fit around the tail.
“Oh, it suits you so well!” admired the proud designer.
“Thanks,” Fiona replied with a brief flutter of her tail. But she had more serious thoughts on her mind. “Um, is Jack doing alright? I heard he was home sick?”
“Oh, he’s… resting, up in his room. Let me go see if he’s… awake. Why don’t you come in and sit on the couch while I check.”
“Sure. Thank you.”
Fiona stepped inside, feeling her nerves return a bit as Mrs. Eten left for the stairs. She hoped Jack wasn’t too bad off; he had seemed pretty rough last week, and she knew he hadn’t been the happiest with her. But if he was up to going to this party, maybe he’d start to understand a little what being in a pack was like for her, and maybe he wouldn’t feel so left out anymore. She just hoped he wouldn’t be too intimidated by all the empty bellies, he would be a guest, not a dinner, after all.
…
Jack heard the approaching footsteps and braced himself for social interaction. And then came the knock, and the quiet sound of his door opening.
*knock* *knock* … *click*
“Jack?” came his mother’s soft voice.
Jack rolled over to face the door in response.
“Fiona’s here, honey.”
His face suddenly went stern and tense.
“She is?” he asked, almost in disbelief.
“Uh-huh, she’s sitting downstairs. She seems worried about you.”
Oh does she? Came the bitterly sarcastic thought. But he laid it aside for a moment and considered. What was he going to do, turn her away? As much as he was angry with her- very angry- he’d spent all day missing her. He should at least hear what she had to say. It’s not like things could get much worse.
“Tell her I’ll be down in a few minutes,” Jack replied finally. He wasn’t about to let her come up into his mess of a room, and he figured he should probably clean himself up a little bit before showing his face. After all, he was still wearing the shirt with her drool on it.
“Sure,” his mom acknowledged, nodding and pulling her head back into the hall, returning him to his privacy with the click of a doorhandle.
After listening to the retreating footsteps, and then procrastinating another moment or two, Jack finally mustered the energy to pull himself out of bed. He stripped off his soiled clothes, used the bathroom, washed a bit and put on fresh ones. And then he looked himself in the mirror, took a deep breath, and finally went for his door.
Just the hallway itself almost seemed like another world, but he stepped into it, leaving his comforting bedroom behind. He walked over to and down the familiar stairs, and a few steps later he finally caught sight of her, sitting quietly on the couch. She’d been looking his way before he’d arrived, of course; her predator’s senses having told her he was coming.
The dress caught him off guard for a moment. He hadn’t seen her in anything like it before, but his eyes couldn’t help but rest for a moment on her exposed belly. Empty and flat, with no Ruby to be found. Being honest, there was some amount of relief in that; he wasn’t sure he could bear to see the marked girl’s remains gurgling away in there. But, of course, there was also more than a fair amount of anger, and it showed in Jack’s face, though he kept his cool.
“Hey, Fi, what are you doing here?” he asked. His choice of words was utterly casual, but there was nothing at all casual in his tone, expression or body language, only restrained resentment and sorrow.
“I… um…” Her ears drooped and she glanced away for a moment. It didn’t take a predator’s senses to pick up on his anger. “I was hoping you’d come with me to… to a party,” she said.
This, once again, caught Jack off guard- both her words and her tone. Those timid, guilty eyes stood out strikingly on a face usually so confident and focused; seeing Fiona sad always did have an impact on him. And asking him to a party? The last time they’d talked they’d been screaming, where was this coming from?
She seemed to sense the vaguely confused shift in his mind, or perhaps it showed in his expression. Either way, she tried to explain a bit more.
“Arthur’s throwing a little party for the pack, and he invited you.”
Jack scowled instantly and deeply, but she kept going before he could say anything.
“I was really hoping you would come and meet everyone, and they would meet you, and we could… patch things up; be friends, all of us.”
His expression lightened.
“If we all hung out together, you’d be a lot safer at school,” she offered hastily, in case he was looking for a more pragmatic reason, but then the look in her eyes shifted even softer as she hesitated for a moment, before finally adding, “And then, maybe, we could hang out a bit more.”
Those last few words seemed to cut right through Jack’s anger. Not erase it, by any means, but they were able to reach his heart through the fire. The furious side of him had half a mind to start screaming at her again and throw everything she’d done- and hadn’t done- over the past week back into her face, but the other side held him back. Here she was, looking sorry, and wanting to spend time with him again. Isn’t that what he’d been wishing for all day? If he pushed her away now… maybe she’d never come back? Maybe this was the only way they could end up okay again?
“Are you feeling up to a party?” Mrs. Eten interjected politely, a note of concern clearly showing.
Jack considered ironically for a moment how she wasn’t showing nearly enough concern. She was just worried because she knew he’d been upset. She was assuming that because it was Fiona inviting him, that he’d be going somewhere safe. She had no clue that he was being invited to hang out with preds, advanced preds, the same advanced preds that had turned the SA meeting into an all-you-can-gulp buffet.
He wondered for a minute if he was crazy for even considering it. Any one of them could easily kill him in a heartbeat, probably before he even saw it coming. He could be serving himself up on a silver platter as the latest in a long line of human meals for one of their heartless, greedy guts.
But… no. Fiona would be there. Despite his feelings, he had little doubt she’d keep him from harm- physically, at least. If she could manage to keep him safe from her ‘pack’ even while they were gorging themselves on everyone in sight, a party shouldn’t be too big of a problem.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, mom,” he answered after a moment.
“So... you’ll come then?” Fiona asked.
He looked at her for a moment, anger and melancholic longing wrestling behind his eyes. And then he let out his small breath.
“Okay,” he said. “Just give me a bit to get ready.”
She smiled just a touch, but he couldn’t bring himself to smile back.