Content
HNTBL: Other Tails
(a “How Not To Become Lunch” spinoff)
Chapter 4:
Sleep Tight
Ender texted Slee around 6:30 p.m. [[Heya are you busy? My parents are using the TV binging some retarded Netflix show, I can’t play guitar, or video games!! My life is hell]] Hopefully she had some time and had already eaten.
“I hope her family doesn’t mind me,” he thought.
[[I’m not busy right now. Uh, you can come over if you want. Just… Be careful, okay? I still haven’t told them about you. Better work on that while you get here *URRP* --Uh, is this speech-to-text thing done? Whatever, send.]]
It sounded to Ender like she had already eaten, no doubt there. Though, wasn’t it a little bit worrying that her family still didn’t know about him? They might just think some random teenage boy was willingly showing up as early dinner… \
“Oh well, hopefully Slee is going to explain things soon enough,” he thought.
Ender considered his options: listen to his parents “Netflix and chill”, or chance being melted into a pred’s hungry guts.
He heard his mom giggle, “Andrew stop it, he’s upstairs.”
“Ah, yep. If I die, gods, remember why I did this.” Ender rolled his eyes.
[[This place is making me near-suicidal anyway, I’ll head over to your place if it is ok. Want me to bring more chips? Awesome job on the text to speech btw, was the app free?]]
[[It’s-- It’s built in with the phone. Anyways, yeah, if you bring food you’ll make a GREAT first impression.]] She went offline soon after that, and probably spent quite some time talking to her parents. Or, at least, building up the courage to tell her parents that she had a human friend.
Ender just really wasn’t going to know until he got there. He made sure he didn’t smell, threw on a fresh shirt- a small red dragon on the front proclaiming: “Dishonour on your cow!” He went downstairs, avoiding looking at the couch, grabbed up two bags of ranch potato chips, and jumped in his shoes.
“See you guys. Heading to a friend’s house to… study… be back later… maybe,” he called, dashing out the door and across the park to Slee’s house.
Compared to his front door this door was huge! “Ok idiot, you need to ring the doorbell, grab the chips, stand well back, and hope Slee has talked to her parents or you’re probably just an Uber Eats delivery.”
Ender looked at the doorbell, which was just out of reach. Planning this carefully to avoid being Nom’d if Slee didn’t answer the door. Ender set the chips down, then sprinted, jumped up, hit the doorbell and landed. He then quickly grabbed the chips (without crushing them) and then retreated to the bottom of the ramp leading up to the doorway, the chips held in front of him like a sacrifice in place of himself.
The large door was slowly opened by Slee herself. She looked down at Ender and tilted her head slightly. “Uh, thanks I guess.” She used her scarlet tail to grab the packages, gently coiling them up before getting out of the way to let him come in.
“Oh good,” He sighed at the sight of Slee; his visions of her mom or dad just gulping him down and never seeing her again were dispelled. He’d even wondered if he might be ringing the wrong doorbell because Slee had mistyped the address. He still couldn’t see any sign that the naga was full. “Last time she had eaten before seeing me,” he worried.
He walked close to her, now finding her looming presence more like a security blanket in this situation.
“Oh, he’s here already?” came a somewhat distant feminine voice from somewhere inside the house.
“Yeah Mom, he is.” Slee ushered Ender in and sighed quietly to herself. Only at this point did her coils shift enough to unveil a bulge on her body. At least she had eaten.
“Was she messing with me, hiding her belly until now?” Also, “does Slee have siblings? She never brought that up before, but why would she?” Ender had questions, but he dismissed them. “Guess there’s only one way to find out”.
“Wow, super nice house, Slee,” he remarked. “Should I take off my shoes? I don’t imagine this house has ever had shoes in it for long, I really don’t want to get on anyone’s inside… Bad side! I meant ‘bad side’.”
Slee cringed for a moment and just sort of chuckled nervously, slithering into the living room. Now that she was at home, she could just let her incredibly long tail stretch out. Sure, she may have been in the ‘living room’ - the house didn’t actually have that many doors or walls, only exceptions being the bedrooms - but her body was so long that the tip of her tail still was near the entrance door.
“I mean, you can take them off if you want. We don’t really mind either way,” she said nonchalantly.
Surprisingly enough, they actually had human visits fairly often. Their long tails often caused accidental trouble, knocking a couple of things over at least once a day. And sometimes, that led to chain reactions culminating in bigger problems, such as ‘accidentally’ destroying a TV. Whenever they called to get their broken things fixed or replaced, human workers were sent. Most of the time they did a great job, but when they didn’t… well… Slee’s family had its own way of letting that be known. Useless rambling aside, a naga even bigger than Slee appeared, inspecting the human boy with glances and tongue-flickering in his general direction.
“Ender, right?” That pred had to be Slee’s mom.
“Yes ma’am, nice to meet you. Slee and I go to the same school, I’ve just moved into town and she has been, really nice to me.” Ender watched the tongue flicker on the enormous naga.
“Was she hungry?” How could he tell? A human probably wouldn’t make much of a lump. Maybe he was too small to be filling enough even if she was hungry? “Yep, I hope that Slee wouldn’t ask me over to feed me to her mom, that would be… odd.” He marshalled his fear into an outward calm, but felt himself step backward into Slee by accident; mortal terror had evidently won out with his feet. “Crap, still better than my parents ‘kissy talking’ with each other.” He looked up at Slee, offering an “Oops.”
She looked down at him, her expression didn’t seem awkward or embarrassed, just… neutral; she didn’t mind. Matter of fact, she shifted her arms and… held him against her. Very gently, of course. That wasn’t a cuddle or a hug, just… a way to show her mother that she actually cared about Ender.
Slee’s mother nodded slowly. “Alright, glad to hear that. I’ll be in my room. Don’t be afraid to ask if you need anything.” She sort of waved, then left, slithering away. Was she going away out of shame or to resist the urge to eat this new boy? Maybe both? Who could say?
Slee did seem slightly upset. “Perhaps her family wasn’t exactly proud of her for befriending a human kid.” But that wouldn’t stop the teenage snake. “Endy’ is just too nice to be turned into lunch.” She looked at Ender, smiling. “So… want to go to my room, Endy?”
Maybe he was okay. He looked up at Slee, enjoying her friendly closeness. “Your room is probably way bigger than my living room,” he remarked, looking around the massive open-plan house. The naga moved over to the kitchen bench, depositing the chips for later.
Ender was looking around; he had never been in a predator’s house before. Was that a picture of Younger Slee in a little pink Halloween costume smiling at the camera? Nagas had a wall of shame too!? Then he saw a picture marked ‘Slee’s first catch’, in which she was also smiling for the camera… with a pair of human legs dangling from her mouth. A few more pictures in the same frame showed the descent of the meal, and a big, grinning picture of Slee making a peace sign and licking her lips.
“Whatever. Preds gotta be preds at some point.”
Slee hadn’t been embarrassed when Ender accidentally bumped into her earlier, but seeing Endy look at all those photos did kind of fluster her. She’d actually forgotten about all the pictures hanging on the walls; she was so used to them that they sort of blended in. Well, at least he didn’t have anything to say about them. Slee was noticeably thinner in most of her younger pictures.
If he paid as much attention as it seemed, then he may have noticed a few other pictures. Some with the whole family, some with just her mom or dad, and a few with another, smaller, male naga.
Before long, Ender turned and looked up at Slee again. “Lead on, Miss Gurgler.”
“MISS GURGLER?! --I… Actually kind of like that.” She blushed for a very, very brief moment, before starting to slither onwards. “I hope you don’t mind walking for a bit, it’s not that far, but still. Actually, why don’t I just…” She raised the tip of her tail and quickly dragged it closer to her, grabbing and gripping Ender’s legs, holding him a few feet up in the air. “Let me spare you the walking,” she snickered.
Ender enjoyed the trip to her room, his hands resting for balance on the strong tail that held him firmly. He looked over at Slee who carried him with apparent effortlessness. “This is the last thing most humans see,” he figured.
“So you have a little brother?” he asked, remembering his own recent issues with siblings, looking at the lump in Slee’s coils. He glanced off through a door as they passed, seeing the total chaos that marked another child’s room. He came to realize he was quite secure, and idly began tracing the intricate patterns on her scarlet tale with his hand.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah-- Right, did I not mention him to you? Uh… I guess you can meet him later. He’s full too, actually ate just a few minutes before you got here.”
That made sense since the park was so close to their house. As she kept moving forward, she began to feel a ticklish sensation on her tail. She ignored it at first, but it quickly started to bother her. She giggled softly and turned her head behind. “Are you touching my tail?” She paused. “I don’t mind too much, just-- if you tickle me enough, I’ll drop you!” The more time passed, the more she allowed her friendly, playful side to shine through. Maybe she felt more at ease with herself and more comfortable around Ender now that she was home?
“Also--” she added, “I could ask later, but if you tell your parents now they won’t be worried I turned you into a midnight snack. Wanna sleep here? Like, have a sleepover and all? You’re not marked, so I should have no problems with you being closeby.” She reminisced about that one time, during a summer camp thing, when she accidentally ate another kid in her sleep just because he smelled so good. Poor guy wasn’t marked either, but mentioning that would only upset Ender.
Ender considered this for a long moment. He did not want to insult Slee. “Okay, if you’re sure, you won’t…” he looked at her mouth, “wake up too hungry to, you know, not…” his eyes roamed to her tummy.
“Huh? Why would I do that? Ender, don’t worry about me, you’ll be fine tonight.” She was a little bit more pushy, now hoping that his parents would be trusting - or foolish - enough to let him stay. “I get why he’s a little uncertain but… I can control myself! All good predators can, it’s not just about eating, it’s also about knowing when NOT to.” She huffed quietly.
Ender took a breath. He had to trust her, HAD TO, or else what was the point? “I’ll text my parents now, should be fine.” He brought out his phone and began tapping away, actually easier to text and ride than to try walking and texting at the same time.
Eventually they made it to her room. She would have let her friend go nicely, dropping him softly on the floor, but she had a better idea. “Heh-heh, this is for doubting me--” she pointed up her tail like a catapult, moved it as close as she needed, then pretty much launched the boy onto her bed. And she was ‘quick’ (relatively) to follow, ready to drown him under her sea of scales.
Ender flew through the air. This he was good at, this was familiar. He landed on the soft bed, tumbling skillfully. He saw Slee rushing at him; a mass of serpentine grace and strength. Luckily she also had control.
“She could have thrown me out a window.” Ender observed.
He tucked his arms and legs in as her massed coils hugged him. He squirmed and wriggled trying to get to her upper body and around to her back, but… she was a giant naga, and he was a human.
At one point he thought he heard the muffled cries of the soon-to-be-former-human lump as her infinitely long coils looped around him. “MMmfffmrrr” the lump seemed to call.
Slee was having quite a lot of fun messing around with Ender, and by ‘messing around’ she meant absolutely torturing him and nearly taking the breath out of him, literally. Her coils tightened around his body as much as possible, though she had to keep it beneath bone-crushing levels of tightness.
At length she lay atop him, his face buried in her soft tummy, all his skilled wrestling plans coming to no success. He could do one thing, though. He blew out as hard as he could against her soft belly, and a loud FRRRTBLBLB sound emerged. He started laughing hysterically inside her grasp.
She had been worrying a little. What if this made him uncomfortable? What if… What if he took this as an actual attack? I mean, he definitely saw the lump on her body, right?
Then he had done THAT!
Slee glanced at him with wide eyes, her belly gurgled softly a couple of times, then she smiled, and that smile turned into a giggle. Was it a little, uh, weird? Yes, definitely, but it was admittedly kind of funny.
“Okay, that caught me off guard. Endy, if you wanted me to let you go you just had to ask.” Probably a joke, since she held him so tightly that he likely couldn’t actually speak.
He smiled up at her, no terror, no fear; this was like when they were gaming together. Slee liked happy Ender.
“I don’t think I should ask you to ‘let me go’ too many more times,” he said. “I was just trying to find a way to mess with you back.”
He lay back, his hands above his head in surrender, his chest heaving from the constrictive play. Slee was massively strong, and in her way, quite beautiful.
“You’re not even tired, are you?” he asked.
“Nope, not even one bit,” she replied.
“We could do this for as long as you like, but at some point you’re just going to be tenderizing me. It feels amazing though.” He looked her in her eyes, green with large blue flecks. “Gorgeous…” he was caught in that gaze.
The last segment of her tail swirled around like a lasso of sorts only to grip his chest and force him against some of her thicker coils. “That was just the demo, now-- Which bones should I break first? It’s your body, so you choose I guess…” She shrugged softly and smirked, neck arched back and waiting for a response.
She had actually never done any of that to a single one of her prey. Most predators swallowed their victims whole and alive for the squirming that came afterward, and the challenge itself of gobbling up someone that could theoretically fight back.
Ender wasn’t quite sure how to respond, so he just took up the offer like she was being an evil villain. “Oh please, Miss Gurgler! Don’t crush me up in your super awesome coils!’’
“Things you never thought you’d do: hang around with a naga who’s probably not going to eat you, pretending to struggle while she contemplates crushing you,” Ender mused.
Ender struggled for all he was worth, hoping Slee was enjoying herself, and even though he kept trying to, he was exhausted. “Best workout ever, Slee.”
“Super awesome? Aww, that’s sweet.” Her smile was widening for a few reasons. She was having fun, sure, but Slee couldn’t help really liking Ender’s compliments. And also, his struggles felt really nice. “He’s strong for a human,” she thought to herself.
Sure, it would be much nicer if they were coming from inside her coils, but she had already made her mind up about that. Plus, her body already had a guest.
“‘Work out’? So this is actually helping you? But like, I was supposed to crush your bones or something.” She smiled down at him. “Oh well, maybe my brother can help with that. Wanna meet him? He’ll be so nice and polite while he injures your neck,” slee said sweetly.
“Definitely helping, anything that helps me beat the old man,” Ender replied truthfully. His constant enforced training with his father, which ironically had no apparent effectiveness against hungry preds, ran through his mind. Ender watched her widening smile. “At least she’s having a good time.” Ironically, he liked seeing Slee smile.
“Yeah sure, I’d be happy to meet your little bro. Plus, maybe some chips?” Ender remembered watching her catch chips easily in her massive chompers.
“Oh yeah, definitely bring those with you. I mean I’ll eat them too, but give him some, it will make the right impression,” she promised.
Slee slowly released him from the mess of tangled coils, getting off of her own bed. “Uh, your body isn’t too sore after all that squeezing right?” She tilted her head slightly, her forked tongue flicking in Ender’s direction idly.
“I’m all good Slee. Remember last week?” He gestured to his neck, the bruises faded now. “You’re much gentler than the pops.” Ender rolled his shoulders, a few grisly pops emerging. He gently patted Slee on the forearm to reassure her.
“Doooo I get another lift to the chips?” he asked.
She nodded and made sure to be a little gentler, her coils wrapping more tenderly this time around, then started for the kitchen.
Speaking of chips, Ender began wondering aloud on a related subject. “If you ever drink soft drinks, the burps could probably shake the windows.”
As she slithered along, that out-loud thought of his piqued her attention. “Uh, I mean, we can try that later if you want. I bet my burps are loud enough to shake the walls.” She giggled at the idea and kept slithering.
Slee grabbed the chips down from the counter and handed them to him, he was still firmly ensconced in her tail. “Ok, final stop now.”
She headed for her bro’s room.
Young predators tend to be either really nice or really voracious towards humans. Or both, and maybe just not quite big enough to actually eat you yet.
Ender recovered in the looser, comfier feeling of the warm coils as Slee glided through the house. He waved politely at her mother as they passed, whose face showed a kind of stunned, amused expression at the little human being carried around her home, safely on the outside of a hungry belly after more than an hour.
Slee reached her little brother’s room and let Ender down from her coiled embrace.
Ender looked inside the room, still seeing nothing.
“Helloooo? Slee’s bro?” He held the peace offering of chips out in front of him. “I come bearing tasty gifts.” He slowly moved into the room, mostly urged on by Slee’s bulk pressing behind him.
Then plop! A male naga landed on his back from the ceiling. Ender shortly threw the chips up and back to Slee, as the two began laughing and wrestling.
This was a much more even match of strength and size. In a moment or two Ender was on his back, holding back the wrists of her little brother as he dodged friendly snaps at his face. In the background he could see Slee laughing at them.
The young naga began snapping his large jaws in an attempt to get Ender’s head.
The human was dodging these half hearted attempts on his life easily enough.
“I hope Slee is impressed that I can dodge these,” Ender thought.
Slee’s younger, far more playful brother was surprised - but in a very good way - to encounter a human that could actually fight with him. He had been properly warned in advance that he was not supposed to eat Ender, but hey, at least they could play-wrestle.
“How about that-- Oh, missed. Well that can’t be-- Oh.” The playful predator was consistently frustrated by the evasions of his ‘prey’.
Slee was amused, seeing her sibling get progressively more ‘violent’ and frustrated. She giggled as the two kept playing with each other. “Ok guys, that’s good and all, but we don’t wanna get tired too soon, do we?”
“This Ender human is pretty fun, can he come more often?” her little brother pleaded.
She could tell that he didn’t want that JUST because Ender was nice, but she doubted her brother would try to eat him in her presence.
“Ethan, he’s a human, staying around us too much could cause some problems.”
“Huh, that’s the little naga’s name then,” Ender figured.
Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes with half a hiss. “Okay, but IF he shows up again, I want to play with him again.”
Ender sprung up from the ground by pressing with his arms and throwing his legs forward, as Ethan slithered off him, extending his hand hopefully to shake the young naga’s.
“Nice to meet you Ethan, awesome to roll with you dude.” Ender consciously avoided calling him ‘little dude’; he thought being the smallest in this family might be a pain point.
Ethan put on a small smile and shook Ender’s hand. “Hey human, nice to meet you.”
“Ready to nosh some chips?” Ender retrieved a bag of chips, opening them for Ethan, wondering how the smell hit their nostrils and tongues compared to his own carb-starved mouth, which was already watering. He glanced back at Slee as he offered the food and saw her smiling.
Ethan slithered a bit closer. Now that their game was over, it was way easier to notice the rather large bulge on his coils. He may have been younger, but he definitely was a hunter as well. When offered the possibility of eating more food, he didn’t hesitate and nodded.
“He looks tasty, but if he has food I really shouldn’t eat him,” Ethan thought. Then he just opened his jaws wide, nearly unhinging them, ready to eat massive amounts of chips.
“Alright, Endy, leave some for me too, okay?” Slee called from behind.
Ender nodded mutely, pulling his eyes away from that kid’s dark abyss. “Only me. Only I would be such a social exile that I would befriend a couple nagas. Well, an awesome life is better than a long life.”
Watching Slee’s little brother eat, Ender also took a pronounced step toward her and away from Ethan, hinged jaws seeming a tiny bit safer than unhinged jaws. He proffered the chips to the young naga.
Ethan grabbed ‘his’ package and sort of tore it to shreds. Not because he was uncivilized or starving, but simply because it just seemed more fun that way. He probably swallowed some of the plastic too, but he didn’t really care.
Slee held the second bag of chips and smiled softly. “Thanks, Endy. Uh, you can have some of mine if you want, I’m not that hungry anyways.”
Ender laughed, watching the younger naga go crazy on the chips. Sometimes preds were just kids too, he supposed. Though they were also still preds, and Ender was very glad to hear she was not really hungry. “Very thoughtful of her to hunt before I came over; help my continued non-meal status.”
“Thanks, Slee,” he said. “Would you believe I’m not allowed these unless friends are over? My friggin dad is a tyrant.”
She sighed. “Ah, well, I’m sorry to hear that. Your life sounds so-- boring.” And strict, of course, but she didn’t like that word. She ate some chips, throwing a dozen in her mouth, then she leaned closer to Ender, allowing him to eat. “Know what? You can have them all. This is like a special occasion for you so… Take advantage of it!”
Meanwhile Ethan was still absolutely obliterating the food he’d received, despite being already somewhat full.
Ender did not need to be told twice, he grabbed a large handful, his eyes rolling. Salt, carbs, MSG. Crunch, crunch, crunch. He looked up at Slee with his cheeks ballooned. “Fannnkyou!!” Chip crumbs fell.
“Is this how a pred feels? Do I look like a predator right now!?” He gulped loudly. “Maybe I will change my gamer tag to Potatopred55?” he joked with the large naga.
He did look pretty hungry, at least to Slee, but like, not to that extent. For a moment her mind thought about what Ender would even be like as a pred. Human predators were a thing, she was well aware, but her Endy didn’t really seem promising as one. She giggled quietly at his thanking, then laughed even harder at his last thought.
“Oh, good idea! Maybe you won’t get ganged up on so hard if your name has pred in it, anyways.”
Ethan proceeded to ask, while still gorging himself, “So, is Ender staying tonight?” He’d probably heard their small conversation before they actually got to his room.
“Well,” Ender said, including Ethan in the conversation, “it is okay with my parents, and if you guys are good with it.”
“I trust you, Slee. Don’t eat me.”
“Then sure. …You guys wanna do anything else tonight besides wrap me up like a burrito?” He winced making the food reference. “You guys play board games? Snakes and ladders or something?”
They both shrugged, wrapping Ender up was pretty fun(ny), but they understood why it would get old very quickly.
“Board games? I mean, uh…” She began, but Ethan spoke up before Slee could turn her thoughts into words.
“What’s a board game?” He sounded genuinely puzzled.
“Ahhh, apparently a thing of the past,” he laughed. “This might appeal more to hunters.” “Hunt-- I mean HIDE and seek? Or maybe video games?”
“Hide and seek? But I thought we weren’t supposed to eat you.” Ethan innocently commented, since most of the time when he played that game, someone ended up in a belly by the end.
Slee face palmed and groaned quietly “It’s just the same game without the eating part. Aren’t you already full, anyways?”
Her brother shrugged, “Yeah, but I might be able to fit more.” Their bodies were incredibly long after all; who knows how much stuff could actually fit in there before they were genuinely packed?
“If you were too packed wouldn’t it be super uncomfortable to move?” Ender asked, but on second thought, he didn’t really want an up-close demonstration of how much Ethan could fit in his coils.
“I mean, it just slows me down a little as it is now,” Ethan replied, looking down at his coils, then back at Ender. “Wanna put that to the test? I could have enough room for y-” SLAP. Slee’s tail hit her brother’s face, no words needed.
He rolled his eyes and chuckled quietly. “Okay, sorry, I was just kidding.” The female naga then turned her attention to her human friend. “Well, hide and seek sounds good enough to me.”
The game itself might be intended for younger people, but most predators didn’t disdain the idea, especially if a meal was involved. Not that it was in this case, but still. She shifted her coils, soft gurgles coming from hers and Ethan’s stomachs.
Ender looked meaningfully at Slee. “Please ensure your mom is okay with hide and seek if you guys want to do that,” he said with a nervous laugh. If that big naga had a mind to eat me, I’m not sure I’d even touch the sides of that massive throat.
“Uh, my mom won’t care anyways, so why would we need to ask that?” Maybe it was the fact that Ender would end up exploring their home during the game, but she didn’t really think her mother would mind.
“I, uh, just wanted to make sure she knew I wasn’t just wandering the house randomly, alone, for no reason,” Ender hedged. “I’m down for whatever, Slee,” he added, finding his inner cool. “Maybe this is why I like her- I mean like hanging with her so much- it’s a little dangerous but a lot of fun.”
“Righto,” Ender said, thinking this through, “What should the winner get?” and as an afterthought quickly added, “NO TONGUES! I know those things might as well be human heat seekers. You have to use your eyes and ears.” He smiled, thinking that was quite clever, then continued, “Parents’ rooms and bathroom are off limits, and whoever is hiding can’t go outside, cause I’m human and I’m not going out after dark.”
“Rock-paper-scissors to see who goes first?” He looked expectantly at Slee and Ethan, finding a stray, leftover chip, which he tossed up at Slee for immediate nomming. That was becoming a fun solution for wayward chips.
Slee would abide by the rules; she was going to suggest a similar guideline anyways. Ethan, on the other hand, might cheat. But hey, it’s just a game, who really cares?
“Ok, got it. That’s fine!” Ethan slowly nodded, slithering a little closer. He ran a hand across his short, human-like hair while doing so. Then, after the rock paper scissors game, it was decided that Ethan would be the first seeker.
Slee huffed. “Ugh, he’s going to find me instantly! I mean, look at how big I am!”
“Fat,” her little brother corrected with a smug face.
“Just wait until Ender goes back home! I’ll strangle you, little brat!”
“But he’s not going home. Sleepover, remember?” Ethan pointed out.
Slee seethed internally. “Okay, right. So uh, Endy, ready to hide?” She turned her head to him again, her neck arching upwards.
“Yep,” He smiled a little wistfully at the friendly sibling rivalry, comparing it to his own recently ended one. But without Jess he wouldn’t have met Slee so… uh here we go then.
When the young naga started counting he was off, laughing to himself. Paying no attention to where Slee went, he went up to her room.
Going inside, he quickly placed his shoes under the bed so it looked like he was hiding there, unaware of his own protruding legs. Then, opening one of her dresser drawers, and ensuring he wasn’t going to be spending time in undergarments, he jumped in a pile of her neatly folded shirts. “This smells like being in Slee’s coils. It’s kind of girly and nice,” he thought.
“47, 48, 49… 50!! I’m coming!” The young, excited naga rushed out of his room and resisted the urge to poke his tongue out of his lips.
“I’ll follow the rules this time. Ender actually seems kinda fun.” He slithered slowly, inquisitively. The churning and gurgling coming from his tummy resonated across the rather quiet house.
“If I were a human, where would I be? Uh, besides inside my stomach?” He said aloud, to scare Ender. He was way more focused on Endy than Slee, he probably walked right past her hiding spot without even paying attention.
Either way, he soon reached the room of his big sister and those shoes piqued his attention. “What a noob! Why would someone hide like that? So unaware, I’m surprised he’s not turned into lunch yet.” The snake boy got closer, arched his tail and then:
“Got you!!” he yelled, and then more quietly, “Or… not.” A trick! Ethan fell for the trick! “Clever, I’ll give him that,” the predator thought, but he did not leave the room just yet.
He inspected some of the drawers, finding nothing but clothes and other ‘yucky things for stupid girls’, as he usually put it.
“He’s still getting closer and closer,” thought Ender. “Well crap.”
That little hunter had come straight for him! He was resisting the urge to giggle when he heard. Then the ominous gurgling of Ethan’s belly approached the drawers. He heard the first drawer open. Visions of his legs kicking in the air as the young naga gulped him down flashed through his mind.
“Think.” He admonished himself then grabbed his phone, ensuring it was silent and dim as hell. He texted Slee, hoping she heard the vibrations and that she was nearby.
[[Hey]] the first text was sent just hoping Slee’s phone would vibrate, alerting Ethan to her presence elsewhere. Then a little bit of a joke. [[This is Endy Drake from Slee’s shirt drawer, it looks like it’s a bit cramped with a 50% chance of being found by Ethan the naga. Also you’re not Fat, you’re well fed cause you’re awesome.]]
Now all he could do was pray to the internet gods. Slee was a girl though, she probably had her phone on her or at least nearby, right?
Slee had her phone of course, though she was surprised to receive a text. “Did Ethan already find him?” She read his messages and chuckled quietly. “So he’s in my drawer? Uh-- eh, I guess that’s fine.” She did want to distract Ethan before it was too late, though she didn’t know what to do that wouldn’t immediately give away her position.
[[I can’t just give up lol. Any ideas in mind, genius? What should I even do to save you?]]
Even if Ender thought he might get eaten, the chances were very low. Ethan knew he wasn’t allowed and he couldn’t just run from her forever. And besides, Ethan seemed to like him well enough, at least for now. That might change when the young naga’s body was empty again.
Meanwhile, in the shirt drawer of Slee’s dresser: “Well sometimes you have to do something so stupid it’s brave,” Ender decided when nothing about the situation changed.
When he felt like his drawer was next, he pushed it open, popping out in front of Ethan like a jack-in-the-box. Slee’s shirts flew everywhere. Ender pointed to the closet behind Ethan and shouted, “WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT!?” in his best melodramatic voice, then made to vault out of the drawers in the hopes he could scamper straight to the living room.
Ethan was actually about to give up after that last drawer, he was too lazy to keep being so thorough. And then, completely out of nowhere, Ender just jumps out and shouts!? That did actually scare him for a split second. His coils stiffened and his jaws parted only to let out a high pitched hiss-yelp.
Ender’s escape tactic might even have worked, but he tripped over naga tail, sprawling face first into the shirt-covered floor.
“…Oh, it’s just yo-- hey!” Ethan yelled as Ender tripped, sprawling over Ethan’s tail.
Ender rolled over, laughing hard after seeing Ethan’s surprised face. “Ah, any chance we could put these shirts away before Slee sees this?” Ender asked hopefully.
Ethan turned around and giggled almost instantly. “Didn’t even need to chase you!” He gripped the human’s legs and dragged him closer, smiling very broadly.
Ender had recognized the familiar pre-predation grip, but was pleasantly surprised when Ethan’s jaws didn’t unhinge and begin engulfing him.
“Since I can’t EAT you for scaring me,” Ethan said through his wide smile, “I guess I’ll just have to let you be the only one to clean this mess in my gross sisters’ room.” He vaguely pointed at all the shirts.
“Yep, yep, that seems fair,” Ender nodded, inches from the muzzle of the snake boy who might just be his friend.
Ender was good at folding, but not really in the same style as Slee’s family did it, so Slee ended up with a drawer full of shirts folded two different ways: one distinctly Ender’s and one however her family did it. He separated the two so they would neatly stack, his style on the left, hers on the right.
Ethan stood there for a while, watching the human boy endure the ‘punishment’ for being caught, or rather, for catching himself. But he left soon enough, bored, and tried to find Slee too. Of course, now that he actually wanted to find her, he did so very quickly.
Ender finished folding and heard a few giggles coming from the living room, guess they had fun with that. He returned to the living room, finding Slee and Ethan there waiting.
“Am I the hunter now, or…?” he asked.
They turned their heads to Ender once they heard him.
“Uh, yeah, technically. Are you sure you have what it takes to hunt predators?” Ethan chuckled.
“I guess that’s a challenge.” Ender decided. He closed his eyes and began counting. “I don’t think preds hide… that much… unless they’re lying in wait. I guess Ethan got me dropping down in that ambush, but Slee would never.”
“…47, 48, 49, 50! It’s naga hunting time!” he called out.
Once again Ender relaxed into playing a game and just having fun with his friends. He looked over at Mrs. Slee to see if she would drop a hint, but she wasn’t paying attention to him or her kids. First he checked a dark, back room he hadn’t been in yet, but he couldn’t see the light switch to jump up and flick it on. He peered into the dark room; an atavistic fear of going into those shadows filled him.
“Not today, Satan,” he thought to himself, returning to have a thorough look in Ethan’s room.
The young naga’s room still looked half like a mess, could actually be a decent idea to hide there. Guess Ender had to inspect a little further, though. Nothing in the drawers, not like a naga could fit there anyways. Maybe one of them was hiding beneath the piles of clothes and other various items scattered all over the floor?
Ender started moving through the piles of clothing, hoping to give as good as he got; he was still feeling pretty dumb for jumping out early when Ethan had been just about to give up.
While looking around, he took stock of the things Ethan might be into. An unintentional side effect of this search was Ender kind of picked up the little naga’s room for him. Then he opened the closet, and he had just about enough time to think, “I should have friggin known better”.
A massive avalanche of hidden clothes and poorly put away items fell upon him, and together with that mess of stuff, a heavy creature fell out as well: Slee. Her thick coils landed one after the other, most of them right onto poor Endy.
“AHH! Uh… Sorry,” she chuckled nervously. “Maybe I should have picked a better spot… A less falling-all-over-poor-Endy one.” She smiled as she felt him struggling underneath her massed coils again.
Ender lay underneath those endless crimson coils. They shifted and writhed as Slee rose, and he caught his breath as the awesome crushing weight slowly reduced.
Looking up at Slee from his back he punched his arm in the air. “I win,” he observed laconically.
“I guess? Yeah, you do.” She rolled her eyes and slowly pushed her body off of him. All things considered, even if very brief, that had been kind of fun. Once she managed to drag all her coils off of Ender, she tilted her head and asked softly, “Wanna try to find my brother as well? You’re such a good hunter, I’m sure you’d do it in less than a minute.” Her tone was mostly ironic.
He laughed ruefully, sitting on one of Slee’s coils, catching his breath. He was pretty sure Ethan wanted to jump out at him like he had. “Sure. Plus, I’m kinda curious about something.”
Ender began walking quickly to the kitchen. First he opened the fridge, which was a task all in itself. “What exactly did nagas keep in a fridge?” Ender wondered. “Huh, normal stuff mostly, just lots more of it.”
Then he checked the pantry. Even if they had more food than a normal person would, most of it went uneaten for rather obvious reasons. Which is why the pantry itself didn’t really hold many items, which meant it would be a pretty decent hiding spot for-- “AAH!” Ethan wasn’t even expecting to be found so soon!
Sure, he heard and smelled Ender getting closer, but he didn’t imagine the human boy would have been thorough enough to check. The young naga tried to think of a way to react, anything, and the first thing that came to mind was similar to the outcome with Slee. He sort of leaned forward and allowed his body to bury Ender’s, but things didn’t go 100% as planned.
His mouth was in a conveniently inconvenient position, so when he leaned towards Ender, well… NOM?! The boy’s head was accidentally engulfed.
Ender watched Ethan’s mouth get closer, closer, too close! Ethan hadn’t gaped those terrible jaws, so Ender’s head just kind of slid in. The sticky blackness of the young nagas mouth all around him, he felt the sharp ridges of teeth on the back of his neck. “Oh gods please don’t mark me by accident Ethan!” Ender went very still, struggling could be bad, screaming worse. He just calmly waited, trusting Ethan and Slee in that hot, hungry darkness.
Ethan didn’t move for a long moment, should he really eat Ender? No, of course not, but on the other hand he just didn’t know if he should give up just like that. Usually nomming someone’s head meant the rest of the body would follow. His thoughts lingered, his tongue idly tasting Ender’s face. Then he realized that if Slee were to see this, it could end up pretty badly for him. He flicked his slimy tongue across Ender’s face a few more times - because come on, how could he resist? - and then spat him out.
“Blegh! Uh-- Sorry! I didn’t mean to, really!” “He tasted pretty nice though, I have to admit.”
Thankfully, there were no bite marks on Ender’s neck. That had been close, maybe not so much to being eaten whole, but to being marked. Soon after the accident, Slee came slithering in “Ah, I see you found my brother too!” She noticed the saliva on Ender’s head and shot a glare at Ethan, but that was about it.
Ender got up slowly, wiping Ethan’s saliva off his face, and slicking his hair back “I don’t use hair product, but whatever.” “Thanks Ethan.” No complaint, no sarcasm in his voice.
He met Slee’s eyes. “Total accident, Slee. I’m okay, see?” Ender showed her that he hadn’t been marked. “So can I maybe get a lift to the sink to wash my face?”
Slee sighed and wrapped her tail around Ender, glad that Ethan hadn’t actually tried to eat him on purpose. But just as she gripped the boy, so did Ethan. Guess he must have felt bad enough to want to make up for it by giving him ‘a lift’. The two nagas looked at each other and laughed. Slee let go, allowing Ethan to offer his apology for accidentally nomming the human’s head. Then he started dragging Ender to the bathroom. His stomach groaned softly. Whether that was hunger or digestion it was hard to tell, probably the latter.
Ender let himself be carried along by Ethan. This young Naga was a real surprise, he listened to the belly happily gurgling, but between Ethan and Slee he’d been a little desensitized. “You’re pretty cool dude, thanks again for not, you know, taking me away from Slee.” He washed his face in the large sink, then dried.
Ethan crossed his arms idly and just glanced at the human as he washed his face and spoke. “Uh, you’re welcome. I’m just… Not really used to being friends with a human.” Would he be able to keep Ender company without getting the urge to get a taste of him?
“You got a battle tag?” Ender asked. “Maybe I can add you? I’m PredNemisis96, probably changing it though.”
The naga smiled softly. “Really? Gee, and you’re telling me without hesitation? I take offense!” He paused and chuckled to himself. “Well, I don’t have one yet actually, I just use my sister’s profile. Speaking of whom, let’s get back to her.”
Given how the night had gone, Ender had resigned himself to spending most of his time being coiled up and carried like an idly uneaten snack. The slow, back and forth swishing motion of being carried by a naga’s tail wasn’t bad at all.
Slee came back into view, and Ender offered: “So bedtime?” “Where exactly do I sleep? Am I sleeping wrapped in Slee’s coils? Or maybe in a dresser drawer?”
Ethan released Ender from his coils, as Slee considered the human’s question. “Uh, it’s a little early, but like, we have school and all so-- sure. I hope you won’t mind your coil bed.” She smirked, shifting her tail for added emphasis.
Ender’s wet shirt distracted him for a moment, and he glanced down at it. “Is Ethan’s saliva also slightly acidic?” The collar seemed to have new holes. “I don’t suppose I could borrow a clean shirt?”
“You see… My clothes are pretty big for you, you might have to borrow something from Ethan.”
The brother replied. “Mine are still somewhat big for him, but sure.” Ethan wanted to drag the boy along again, but he opted to simply go and bring him back a “random” shirt, returning after a couple minutes. Sure, it was long - due to the nature of naga bodies - but Ender could probably still use it.
“After this, straight to my room. And uh, no, not you Ethan.” Slee smiled to herself. “More alone time with Ender.”
Ender pulled the ruined shirt off. He was pretty well built for a human, he was short though. He threw on Ethan’s borrowed shirt. It was white, but a gold 1st place ribbon stood out on the chest: “Junior Predator Summer Camp MVP”. Slee’s family name adorned the back with a bunch of human stick figures possibly denoting meals!? “Now I KNOW he is messing with me.” Ender laughed.
He lifted his arms so they might be free when Slee wrapped him up, already looking forward to the warm, smooth strength of her crimson tail. “It’s amazing what you can get used to,” he thought. “I’m ready, Slee.” He waved good night to Ethan.
Ethan let out one last childish laugh before leaving the two alone.
“Yup he definitely did THAT on purpose,” Ender surmised, watching Ethan slither away.
Slee quickly wrapped Ender up and dragged him to her room. This time she was a little bit nicer and gently let him slide onto her bed. Her coils and herself were soon to follow, surrounding the human kid. “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? I mean, all of it. --Except maybe almost getting eaten.”
Ender felt Slee gather all around him, he was held firmly a short distance below her face.
“Yeah, that was a good time,” he agreed. “I’m just glad she’s not jealous or something Ethan tasted me first.” “If you play hide and seek, scare nagas, and don’t end up in a hungry belly, I’d say that’s a win. I wish I’d snapped a picture of his face when I jumped out of your dresser.” He grinned. “It was so funny”.
Slee giggled to herself, she hadn’t actually seen her brother scared out of his little wits, but she could guess it was pretty funny.
Ender snuggled into Slee, adjusting to finding a more comfortable position in the crimson coils.
She shifted her coils a little, picking up on the fact that he was trying to get in a comfortable position and adjusting her body for it. She laid her upper half on the soft mattress, belly down, arms beneath her chest and eyes pointed at Ender.
“What did you do last night, Ender?” he mused to himself. “Slept in the same bed as a girl- well, naga… Life goals.”
“So… ‘round about what time do you get… hungry in the morning?” Ender asked, meeting Slee’s verdant green and flecked blue reptilian eyes.
“As soon as I wake up. Actually, uh, sometimes hunger is like an alarm for me.” She knew that sounded a little menacing; why wouldn’t a hungry, tired pred eat the human right next to them?
But… She could resist the temptation, she was sure of it. “Don’t worry though! I’ll probably have a light breakfast tomorrow.” “Just so I can eat someone at school, there’s no way cereal or something is going to fill me up,” she added silently.
As she thought about eating someone, she realized that her stomach had been empty for at least a couple of hours. She wasn’t hungry enough to devour a whole person, but she might be soon if she didn’t sleep. “E-Either way, today was fun. Sleep tight, Endy.” Very amusing to say since his body was wrapped in her coils.
Her green-ish eyes closed, her mouth shifted into a soft smile, and her tail very slowly pulled Ender closer, out of affection for the most part. Though, not quite too close, again she couldn’t risk waking up and realizing that he was already midway down her throat.
Ender smiled back at Slee; he liked her smile.
“I like her smile!? You know what? Yeah, I like her smile,” he admitted to himself.
He watched her eyes shut, and found himself dozing as well. His body felt well rung out, as if from a heavy training session with his dad. He frowned slightly, he had another one of those dumb tournaments in a few weeks. Would Slee watch him wrestle? She’d probably think it was ridiculous.
But if anyone knee rode his face like last time… maybe she’d have something to say about it.
He wondered what the future held for them, and kinda how long his future really was going to be. But it didn’t really matter. He was happy for one of the first times in his life. Happy, and he had someone he could talk to.
He dreamt lightly at first: of meeting Slee in the park, hanging with her playing video games, seeing her massive jaws unhinge in a yawn after eating chips. Then a tad darker: she hadn’t let him go in the mall… he slowly awoke out of that dream.
Ender was alone, it was morning, the sounds of a family going through morning routines echoed through the large house. He got up, moving quickly, understanding the state the naga household might be in: “HUNGRY”.
He heard fangs being brushed in the bathroom and headed towards the front door, identifying a MASSIVE cereal bowl on the kitchen table. “Must be Slee’s,” he surmised.
Shoes on, opening the door, he called, “Morning awesome nagas! Thanks for letting me stay… and go!” “I hope Slee doesn’t think I’m rude, but I can’t put her in a her-vs.-her-tummy situation too often.”
He closed the door and sprinted across the park to his own house… in a completely ridiculous shirt. A large wolf predator gave a decidedly odd look at his sprinting form, but before anything more could come of it Ender was gone.