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How Not To Become Lunch: 44 - Don’t Crack Under Pressure
They walked alone together in silence for a while before either of them spoke. They both knew the way; it was hardly the first time Jack had had to hurry and clean himself up before class. Secretly he’d gotten rather good at washing the spit of hungry predators from his hair; a skill he loathed having to perfect.
*slosh*!
Fiona watched him glance at her belly, still thrashing quite lively.
“You have a good hunt?” he asked rather quietly. It was such a casual question, a thing preds might ask each other as nonchalantly as ‘did you have a good night’s sleep?’. And the way Jack said it might almost have sounded that way too, if not for the heavy cloud of despair that shadowed his words.
“…It… um… wasn’t really a hunt,” she replied. Part of her wanted desperately to explain herself, part of her didn’t know how and was worried that trying would only make things worse, and another part of her- perhaps even the majority- questioned if she deserved the right.
“It’s okay, I saw you with Arthur, I know you two went hunting together after class.” Jack’s words weren’t sharp, they were hardly even resentful, they just sounded weathered, maybe even sad.
“No, really, I-” she stopped talking as they stopped walking and Jack pushed open the bathroom door. They’d arrived at the boys’ room. He paused for a moment and glanced back at her. But Fiona knew she couldn’t afford to hold them up with her explanation, they just didn’t have the time. She stayed silent, and he walked inside, the door falling shut between them.
Jack walked over to the sink and turned the faucet on.
She promised me she’d be there… he thought. But she went with Arthur instead… to go find some kid to eat… Is a meal really more important to her than I am?
The thought alone nearly broke his heart. Not that he quite believed it, and he knew he was a bit worked up from, you know, almost being eaten alive- again- but… She had taken her time chatting with Arthur and catching a bite on her way…
So much for ‘right after next period’…
He set to work cleaning himself, the manual task helping to clear his mind just a touch. He had to go quickly too, otherwise he’d be late for class and might even risk detention. He did not want to go through that again. At least if that did happen, Fiona would probably get detention too this time. He thought back to that unpleasant afternoon.
He’d been waiting for Fiona to show up and save him then too, hadn’t he?
Having other things to do besides protect me is one thing, but she shouldn’t go promising she’ll be there for me if she won’t.
He shook the thought from his head along with some water and a bit of predator spit.
Come on, Jack, just… keep your cool for one more class, then you can go home.
Turning off the water, he dried himself as quickly as he could and headed back for the door. Walking through, he was immediately greeted by a loud squelch. His eyes flicked to Fiona’s belly, still wiggling wildly from the human inside, before rising up to meet her gaze for a moment. He nodded and turned to continue toward class.
She followed a couple steps behind, but with a set of claws to her muzzle. Anxiously, she fought herself over whether to speak or remain silent, but eventually she just couldn’t help it.
“Jack… I… I really didn’t go hunting with Arthur,” she said.
You showed up with him next to you and a human kicking in your stomach, Jack thought, but he didn’t interrupt.
“There was this other kid, this fox, that knocked me over in the hall.”
But you showed up with Arthur and a human kicking in your stomach.
“And there was this big fight in the middle of the hall.”
But you showed up with Arthur and a human kicking in your stomach!
“And I tried to-”
“You showed up with Arthur and a human kicking in your stomach!” Jack interrupted. He met her eyes with a glare, admittedly one more full of hurt than anger, but accusatory, nonetheless.
A werewolf had never been so cut by a human’s glare. Fiona’s already hardly-raised ears fell flat as her whole body seemed to droop, the corners of her lips included, saddened puppy eyes poking through, but all only for a moment. Her ears snapped back up as a spark of retaliatory anger ran across her face.
“Arthur caught the human for me!”
Jack faltered somewhere inside, but his anger pushed him on.
“And you couldn’t have told him ‘sorry, I can’t eat right now, I have to stop my best friend from becoming someone’s lunch’!?”
“He marked her for me!”
“Children!” came a much quieter but sharper voice.
Startled, both kids looked to see a dragon woman standing in a nearby doorway. It was Ms. Dracoria, their history teacher.
“I’d suggest you both take your seats quickly if you want to be on time,” she warned with a firm look before stepping back inside herself.
Fiona huffed quietly to herself and glanced at Jack, a confusing slew of emotions dancing across her face, and then she turned and walked quickly towards their class. Jack followed a few steps behind. Both took their seats, right next to each other, and only a few seconds later, class began.
The lecture was on… well, neither of them could have told you.
Would it have killed Jack to just listen to me for a minute!? Fiona asked herself crossly. She tried to sit and stew with the thought in anger, but a reply seemed to slip out from some corner of her mind.
It might have, yes. You almost made him late.
A hearty kick from her meal drew her attention to her belly for another moment. She could hardly deny, much less ignore how good it felt to have that human girl in there. Fiona could feel every little squirm and shift, and each new movement was another little wave of satisfaction- especially satisfying when she could feel her stomach contracting back against a blow like that, squeezing her prey back into place.
Thanks to her, it was almost Jack who’d ended up stewing in a belly.
I did everything I could! It’s not my fault all that stuff got in my way!
You could have recognized that fox a bit sooner.
I couldn’t have fought my way past two angry bears!
You could have tried something: stealth, agility, diplomacy; you just stood there like a moron! Meanwhile Jack was getting swallowed alive.
*GLORP*
Her meal gave another strong shove inside her, almost as if trying to hammer those thoughts home, as if the girl in her stomach was the one trying to tell her these things.
I had to eat you! Arthur marked you for me! I couldn’t just say no!
But you could let Jack get eaten.
No!
He was busy getting swallowed down just while you were swallowing me. He was wriggling in some pred’s throat while you were enjoying me in yours.
But Arthur-!
*squelch*
She felt another oh-so-pleasurable contraction as her stomach squeezed in tight against her still-wriggling meal.
‘Arthur’ nothing, you enjoyed it didn’t you? You enjoyed your meal at Jack’s expense. You might as well have eaten Jack yourself!
No!! Fiona clenched her fists tight at the thought, holding back a snarl.
He might as well be the marked human melting in your stomach!
No!!
Fiona clenched her entire body from her muzzle to her toes, just to keep from screaming out in protest. She felt a violent shutter… but it hadn’t come from her. …It had come from inside her. As the werewolf slowly relaxed her various muscles, her attention was centered mainly on her stomach, the powerful, muscular walls receding out of a tight, overwhelming, crushing grip.
*guuuuurgle*
She caught Jack glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.
…The girl in her belly did not move.
*glorp*
Seriously, Fiona!? she scolded herself. You had to go and do that right next to Jack, in the middle of class!? As if you haven’t done enough to upset him!
Her head sunk a bit lower. She might have buried it in her desk if she didn’t think that would only draw more attention. Wishing she could flee the room, she glanced over at the clock on the wall. The period had hardly begun. For a moment she considered asking Mrs. Dracoria to send her to the nurse, but the teacher would certainly send another student with her, and that other student would definitely end up talking to her- and might even be Jack. At least in class she could remain silent.
*squelch*
Mostly.
…
“And then ten minutes before the end of class, she asks the teacher to use the bathroom and never comes back!” Jack recounted angrily- though where that anger was directed, neither Ozzy nor Zach could be sure.
“Do you think she’s really mad at you, then?” Ozzy asked sympathetically, though a bit of the concern was actually from an internal worry he couldn’t quite suppress: a werewolf from the advanced predator class potentially having a newfound grudge against his friend, and maybe him by association.
“I don’t know,” Jack replied dejectedly, and then with another small flare of anger added, “She left before we could talk.”
“Are you really mad at her?”
“No- yes- …Maybe? Ugh!” He grunted in frustration.
“Are we still going to have our magic lesson?”
“I-” Jack was about to respond quite angrily to that obviously tactless question, until he realized that it had come from Zach, not Ozzy. He let out his breath; he knew full well his new friend couldn’t help it and was only trying his best. Besides, the reason they’d all met up in the park after school was so Zach could tutor them, not so they could all listen to Jack’s ever-growing list of problems. “Yeah, we’d better. Looks like I’m gonna need it,” he grumbled.
“What did you have in mind for today?” Ozzy asked.
“Oh! Actually I got this idea from something I saw happen between classes.” Zach’s eyes scanned and settled on an old tree stump. He led them over as he continued explaining. “This kid got ambushed in the hall and couldn’t save himself. His friend was there, and she tried to help, but she couldn’t keep focused enough.”
Jack couldn’t help but notice the familiarity in that narrative as Zach paused to pick up a sizable rock from the ground and put it up on the stump.
“I was thinking that if he’d been faster and she’d had better control, things probably would’ve gone better, so that’s what I thought I’d try to help you guys with. I want one of you to knock this rock off here as quickly as you can, and then the other one will pick it up and put it back again- all with magic, that is.”
“Huh, alright,” Ozzy replied as he considered the task. He glanced at Jack. “Why don’t I try the ‘putting it back’ part first,” he volunteered. He figured his friend was probably more inclined to blowing off some steam by sending a rock flying than practicing careful control at the moment, not to mention picking the rock up sounded like the easier part, no time constraint and all.
Jack shrugged.
“Alright then. Jack, take a few steps back.”
As he did, Zach proceeded to give some instruction.
“I see a lot of people waste time when they need a quick spell by waiting until their wand is aimed before they cast. Remember that you can start casting as soon as your hand touches the wand, as long as it’s pointed at the right place when the incantation is finished.”
“But I thought it was supposed to be ‘draw, direct, declare’?” Ozzy asked, quoting back a familiar phrase from his early classes.
“That’s what they teach the beginners; it’s safer that way.”
“Safer?”
“Well, if you start the spell before you touch your wand, it could come out wrong. Sometimes it just fails, but sometimes it backfires- especially with more complicated spells. And if you do cast it right, no one wants you hitting things you’re not aiming at.”
“Huh…” Ozzy marveled.
Even Jack, in his frustrations, couldn’t help but consider the powerful simplicity of this small shift in technique. As far as he was concerned, if he was facing down the gullet of another hungry predator, the danger of a spell gone wrong was nothing compared to snatching an extra second’s advantage from the jaws of digestion.
“Let’s start with your hands together, away from your wand,” Zach instructed. “And when I say ‘go’, draw and cast as quick as you can.”
Jack clasped his hands in silent acknowledgment and waited.
“…Go!”
“Pellere!!”
*woosh*
“…Whoa, Jack, that was good!” Ozzy exclaimed.
Jack eked out a small sort-of-smile, mildly impressed with himself. His recent lessons with Zach, not to mention all his ‘real-world practice’ had already been doing wonders for his draw speed. His hand had been on his wand so quickly that he’d hardly had to wait at all to start the incantation. His aim could have been better, considering the rock ended up careening to the left, but he was a bit too focused just on how far he’d sent it to care.
“Yeah, not bad,” Zach complimented. “Your turn now, Ozzy.”
“Yeah, I think I can see it poking up there, shouldn’t be hard- wait, why are you taking out your wand?”
“Alzare adhair.” At Zach’s word, Ozzy felt an eddy of wind, which quickly surged into a strong updraft, lifting the edges of his shirt and pulling the previously still air around him into a turbulent whirl, a whirl which continued as Zach kept his wand trained.
“Try to stay focused and bring the rock back to the stump,” he instructed, speaking a bit louder to be heard over the wind.
So much for this being the easy part, Ozzy thought.
He squinted to see the rock peeking out from the grass as the air buffeted his eyes. He raised one arm to point his wand, while keeping the other one down to hold his fluttering shirt in place.
“Levito.”
He raised the tip of his wand, and the stone came with it. He brought his hand inward, and his target followed, wavering in its path as his arm was pushed around by the wind. But with a bit of focus, he managed to get it slowly back onto the stump.
Both boys released their spells, and the wind died down.
“Alright, that wasn’t too bad,” Ozzy thought aloud. “Could be a bit faster. Guess it’s my turn to hit the thing.” He took a few steps back to the distance Jack had been standing, and decided his friend’s choice of spell was a good one. “Ready,” he said.
“Alright… Go!”
“Pellere!”
*woosh*
Ozzy’s aim was a bit better, sending it almost straight forward and with a better arc, landing it almost as far as Jack’s attempt.
“Not bad, huh?” he asked, glancing at Jack. But Jack was busy staring off into space. It took the other boy a moment to even realize he was being addressed.
“Oh- yeah, that was a good shot…” But he quickly went back on his white lie. “Sorry, I was just…” he trailed off, not sure really how to describe his state of mind.
“It’s alright,” Ozzy replied, understandingly.
“Your turn to bring it back,” Zach said.
Jack did his best to pull himself from his thoughts, he found the stone sitting in the grass and trained his wand as he heard Zach’s spell.
“Alzare adhair.”
The wind stirred around Jack’s face, picking up speed as he cast his own spell.
“Levito.”
The stone rolled over swiftly, but did not rise. He’d missed.
“Levito,” he said again. And this time the rock did rise. He brought his hand in closer as Ozzy had, and his target began to drift toward him, but after a short way it faltered and dropped. Jack caught his slip and tried to catch the rock as well, but it only jerked to one side and then tumbled back into the grass.
He let out his breath, and Zach released his spell.
“Hmm… do you wanna try it without the wind first?” Zach asked.
“No, it’s not the wind,” Jack lamented with a hint of frustration. “I just can’t… What if Fiona really is really mad at me?”
Ozzy wanted to say something, but shrunk back regretfully, wishing he’d never asked the question. Zach, on the other hand, replied instantly, with almost oblivious candor.
“She’s not mad at you.”
“How can you say that? You weren’t even there…” Jack shook his head dejectedly.
“Angry predators don’t run away from humans,” Zach said simply.
It was almost laughably simplistic, but the more Jack thought about it, the more it actually seemed to make sense.
“When do predators run away from humans?” he joked somewhat cynically.
“I guess… when they’re afraid?”
‘Afraid’? Jack thought dismissively. When had he ever seen Fiona… A few memories came to mind to answer his unfinished question, most of them moments after he’d been pulled from the mouth of some hungry pred, her fur-covered expression shaped by worry and- yes- fear. And then there was the day she’d marked him, all those years ago; the day he’d asked her to bite him. He could still remember it clearly; the look on her face when she’d watched her mother take him away…
It was a fear, he realized, that he himself shared, even now with ample protection and ample distance from any threatening predators. One which his mind, in its current state, seemed to plaster over all the world, to the point where he couldn’t even bear to stare down a rock long enough to perform a simple spell.
It was more than the simple fear of being eaten. It was what being eaten would mean for both of them. It was what their argument might have meant to both of them.
“Jack?” Zach called reluctantly.
The marked boy pulled himself from his thoughts.
“Do you want to just call it a day?” Ozzy asked.
Jack took a breath. “No. Let’s try that again.”