Content
How Not To Become Lunch: 66 - Be Respectful
*BUUUUUUUUUURP*
*guuuuuuuurgle*
Jack glanced back with a frown as he heard the telltale sounds of a pred at the conclusion of their meal. He caught the outline of a bulging, double-stuffed gut peeking out around the panda’s sides and shuttered, noting the freshly regurgitated pair of glasses that had snuck back out with that belch. He wouldn’t be needing those anymore, Jack thought morbidly. With some effort, he pushed the thought out of his mind and looked ahead, continuing to walk alongside Fiona.
Neither really noticed that they were still holding hands from when she had guided him along earlier, not until Fiona’s belly gave another wet, squelching whine, and Jack felt her grip tighten ever so slightly. She seemed… uncomfortable, but she wasn’t letting it show. Was… was it just his mark getting to her? No, she hadn’t been like this until recently; they’d hung out plenty before now and she’d seemed totally fine.
The pair walked into the lunchroom, met with the usual cacophony of voices and the occasional scream of terror or shouted incantation. Making their way towards their usual table, they found it practically empty, except for one familiar occupant: Sarabeth. But as they got closer, they noticed a few other figures standing close by. There was a trio of human boys facing her, apparently having a discussion. Judging by their expressions and drawn wands, they didn’t seem too happy. They gradually came into earshot.
“Why don’t you just go back to the pred side of the room and leave us humans in peace for a change?” one of the boys said with mild antagonism. He didn’t particularly sound like he wanted a fight, he just wanted her gone. Sarabeth eyed him with a steady, disapproving gaze as she brought her fork to her mouth and neatly took in another bite of cafeteria food, inadvertently flashing her fangs. She waited until she’d swallowed before speaking.
“I intend to meet here with a friend of mine. She has yet to arrive,” the vampire informed the mage calmly.
“Come on, man,” one of the other boys said to the first, sounding much less confident and much more reluctant. “She’s not bothering anyone. Shouldn’t we just leave her alone?” He had a healthy hint of fear in his voice.
“You should wait for her on your side,” the first boy said to Sarabeth, disregarding his companion. “You’re scaring off all the human kids. No one wants to eat lunch next to someone who they think is gonna eat them.”
“Unfortunately, she has a human with her,” Sarabeth said. She paused to take another bite, chewed, and swallowed. “I am not presently on the hunt. At the risk of encouraging me to change my mind I would suggest you follow the advice of your accomplice, return to your own seats, and leave me in peace, as interrupting a lady during her meal in a fashion such as this is fairly discourteous.”
“See!? She’s threatening us,” the mage pointed out to his two companions. “Listen, you better-”
“Is there a problem here?” Fiona interrupted, sounding deceptively friendly, as she stepped up to the table with Jack. Her belly chose that moment to give a characteristically hungry rumble.
The reluctant boy saw her and very quickly took a small step back, pointed his wand carefully away from all involved, made very deliberate eye contact with the werewolf and shook his head ‘no’. The boy who had yet to speak tensed up and stood ready, but made no other move, though he seemed nervous. The most vocal, antagonistic of the bunch glanced to Fiona, and then to Jack.
Jack had almost instinctively drawn his wand in the air of confrontation, doing his best to channel his bravery and stay calm.
“Alright alright, let’s just breathe…” he said- partly to himself. In truth he did feel kind of bad; they were fairly far into the human side of the lunchroom, he could very much understand other kids feeling uncomfortable about that, and it was all basically his fault. He couldn’t even offer much in the way of comfort; it’s not like he was going to promise that Fiona or Sarabeth wouldn’t hunt anyone while they were there. On the other hand, he did not approve of the way this other mage was reacting to all this, and he wasn’t about to let them do anything to his friends, especially not if Fiona was involved. His posture showed which side he’d be on if things went south.
“…Come on, let’s go,” the lead kid said, a bit begrudgingly. It was clear he didn’t like his odds much anymore now that Fiona- and to some extent, Jack- had shown up. They backed away, waiting until they’d gotten some distance before starting to turn their backs.
“Good afternoon, Fiona, Jack,” Sarabeth greeted. “Apologies for that unpleasant incursion.”
“I guess we should’ve expected it, sitting this far into the human side,” Fiona replied. “Whatever, we can take care of ourselves.” She glanced over at Jack. “No way I’m risking eating with you on the pred side.”
The thought of sitting in the middle of a swarm of unacquainted, hungry, feasting predators, with his mark silently calling out to all of them, enticing them closer… Yeah, not something Jack wanted to experience, much less on a daily basis.
“Thanks,” he said.
Sarabeth put her utensils down neatly around her unfinished meal and stood up elegantly. That drew both of their attention, even before she cleared her throat for good measure.
“I would like to cordially extend to each of you an invitation to the Beatricia estate, where tomorrow night we will be hosting an exclusive gala in celebration of the anniversary of my birth.” She produced two elaborately adorned envelopes and offered them for the taking. She even showed a rather happy, little smile on her face, though she was looking mostly at Fiona.
“It’s your birthday again already?!” The werewolf’s expression instantly shifted into excited surprise. With everything that had been going on, it had all but slipped Fiona’s mind. “Well, you know I’m coming.” She eagerly but politely took one of the envelopes.
“A birthday party?” Jack asked rhetorically, as he reached out and took hold of his own invite. “Cool, how old are-”
Fiona’s hand suddenly hurtled through the air, her furry digits flying into Jack’s face to cover his mouth, with the speed and reflexes of a predator going for the kill. Though in this case, her intentions were quite the opposite.
“You never ask a lady her age,” Fiona warned him.
Jack’s startled gaze moved from Fiona back to Sarabeth, the vampire’s eyes had narrowed, still holding her end of the envelope. Jack gulped, and let out his shaky breath through his nose, stirring the fur on Fiona’s hand before she gently released his mouth.
“Excuse me,” Jack said, as politely as he could. “I would be happy to attend. Thank you.”
Sarabeth released the invitation into his care, though her expression didn’t change much. “Excellent,” she replied.
“It’s really nice of you to invite Jack,” Fiona told the vampire sincerely. “Thank you.”
“Oh- um-” the vampire cleared her throat again, this time to regain her composure and hide her flustered moment. “You are welcome, Fiona.”
“So, what do you have planned for this year?” the werewolf asked rhetorically, as she stuck one claw into the fold of the envelope and neatly sliced it open. She removed the letter within and scanned it with interest. “A sleepover!?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Sarabeth confirmed. “We should have ample bedding available for everyone, even the surviving humans.”
“You’re inviting more humans again? Oh this sounds like it’s gonna be a great night-” Fiona seemed to realize what she was saying and catch herself, her excitement faltering. “I mean, not that…” As she began to trail off, Jack took the opportunity to interject. That comment about ‘surviving humans’ had very much caught his attention.
“Um… I’ve never been to a pred’s birthday party. I mean, not since Fi was a pup. Is it… normal for there to be human guests?”
“Well, not really…” Fiona answered. “But she invited a bunch last year so everyone would have something nice for… um, dinner.”
“Oh…” Jack looked down at his invitation. “Oh…”
“N-not you, obviously!” Fiona added. “You’d be there as a guest, right Sarabeth?”
“Oh, yes, of course. Perish the thought; you being consumed as a result of attending my festivities would be a horrendous tragedy.”
“See, you’ll be totally fine. We’ll make sure of it,” Fiona promised. Something in her voice reminded Jack of the talk they’d had the other day in her bedroom. It did give him a fair amount of encouragement.
“R-right,” he replied. “Well… it’s gonna be kinda tough to convince my mom to let me sleep at a house full of preds- I mean, besides yours. But I think as long as you’re both looking out for me… she should be okay with it.”
“Yes! This is going to be so fun! Just wait until you see her house, it’s huge. I remember last year; we played this game of hide and seek. Oh, I found the tastiest, squirmiest-”
*guuuurgle*!
Fiona went morbidly silent as she once again realized she’d let herself get distracted onto a tangent and gotten her belly worked up. There was a moment of awkward silence.
“…Excuse me. I should really go hunt- hurry- and get some food from the lunch line. Come on, Jack.” She turned away, eager to break out of the embarrassing moment.
“Fi, wait,” Jack said. She stopped somewhat reluctantly and turned around.
“…Yeah?”
“I… I noticed you’ve seemed kinda hungry lately.”
“…Yeah…” she admitted.
“…And you haven’t caught a human all week…”
She looked away, but otherwise did and said nothing else.
“…Are you… trying not to hunt humans? …Because of what happened?”
Her tail drooped, as did her ears. He’d read her like a book. “…The last time I ate a human, so much…”
“…Fiona…” he said sympathetically.
He could see it all on her face now, painted across her muzzle. She knew her answer sounded ridiculous. What, was she really going to abstain from all humans? But she couldn’t shake the underlying regret, the remorse, the fear.
“Fi… you’re a growing pred. You have to eat.” Now he was the one who sounded ridiculous; a human, encouraging a pred to go hunt his own kind? Not to mention he sounded like he was her dad or something. “I know things got really messed up… but I don’t want you to starve yourself because of me.”
“I… I wouldn’t starve, I’d just… I could do it…”
“I know you could,” Jack replied. She was the strongest person he knew, and not in the physical sense. What she’d done that day after Arthur’s party had shown that and more. “But I don’t want you to. Not for me. You love hunting, Fi, and you’re really good at it. I don’t want you to give that up.”
There was a short moment of rather intense silence as Jack searched for more words and Fiona listened intently.
“…You’re a predator, Fi. I’ve known that ever since we were little. I knew you’d grow up to eat people. Looking after me… and my friends… that’s as much as I could ever ask you to do. Please… don’t worry about it too much. Go hunt and enjoy yourself. I know when it comes to me and my friends you’ll do everything that you can to keep us safe.”
Jack could see her tail gradually lifting as he spoke, right up to the point where he finished, when she promptly darted toward him, arms outstretched. For a human, a werewolf rushing toward you, about to get their arms around you, was not a sight you generally wanted to see, especially not in the middle of a high school lunchroom. But this was the wildest, most striking exception.
“You’re the best, Jack,” Fiona said, giving him a quick hug.
*guuuuurgle*!
Her belly sounded in impatience as they separated.
“Now go catch someone before you get so hungry that you nom me,” Jack joked. They both laughed, somewhat awkwardly. It was still a little too soon for jokes like that, but it was a good start. She glanced quickly around the room, a familiar predatory expression filling her eyes. He noticed that slight, momentary hitch in her gaze that signaled she’d found a target.
“I’ll be right back,” she said with a confident smile. And then she took off.
Jack watched. Sarabeth too, who’d been silently, politely observing the entire time. Fiona moved quickly, somewhat conspicuously. Someone who didn’t know her as well might have assumed she was rushing to sate her hunger and being sloppy. True, she might have been somewhat… motivated, but Fiona Lupella was not a sloppy huntress.
She picked up a bit more speed, now almost trotting, and finally Jack realized why. Her target was about to head out of the lunchroom doors. And it wasn’t just anyone, it was the boy from a few minutes ago, the one who’d been giving Sarabeth a hard time. Fiona was approaching from far off to the side, just at the edge of his vision, and she needed to time things just right. She noticed a narrow strip opening through the ambling students, she broke into a sprint, dropping down onto all fours to increase her speed and lower her profile, and as her target reached out to push the door open, she pounced.
She struck him with open jaws, plowing her gullet directly into his face. And she impacted with such force that it knocked the boy off his feet, right into one of his companions, and sent all three of them flying and then eventually skidding several feet across the cafeteria.
Several nearby students stood up, either from surprise or because they wanted to get a better look. Fiona’s meal was already halfway down her gullet. The other boy she’d plowed over was still quite dazed. The third boy of their group noticed what had happened, and drew his wand to defend his friends, but Fiona had- quite intentionally- knocked them fairly far into the pred side of the lunchroom, so those ‘nearby students’ who had stood up quickly moved in to secure the area, protecting the fellow huntress and potential extra meals inside.
*gulp*
*gulp*
Jack couldn’t really hear her swallows over the dull roar of the room, but he could see her swallowing quickly, the unfortunate boy lurching down, down, down, into Fiona’s empty belly, her fur stretching and flexing, just as nature had designed, as her body worked to embrace and accommodate her fresh meal. He was gone in a matter of seconds; wolfed down by the hungry predator. Her belly wriggled and writhed with the struggles of a human prey who barely even knew what had hit him.
*buuuuuurp*
That Jack did manage to hear, if somewhat faintly, followed by the even less audible sound of a loud cheer coming from further into the pred side of the room. Jack glanced at a tiny swath of moving red in his vision, and caught sight of Pyre, sitting at his usual table with the other advanced preds, waving a hand around in celebration. He looked back to Fiona as she fully stood up, belly jiggling, and started back toward him and Sarabeth, a huge, happy, satisfied grin on her muzzle.
“She really is an amazing predator, isn’t she?” he asked the vampire softly, realizing she’d been watching just as intently as he had.
“Yes, she truly is,” Sarabeth replied. She almost left it at that, but her meddlesome curiosity compelled her to speak a touch more. “…You encouraged her, for the sake of her happiness, despite the potent danger she poses to you and your kind. I would have expected you to attempt to taper her predatory tendencies, and yet you’ve done the opposite.” She spoke matter-of-factly. And though her tone did not convey a question, her statements clearly implied one.
“It’s part of who you guys are…” Jack replied. “And… I don’t want her to have to be anyone other than who she is.”
Fiona arrived at the table a few moments later, bulging, struggling gut proudly on display. It was quite easy to tell her mood had greatly improved, well before she spoke. Not just from her new meal, but from their conversation as well.
“Come on, Jack,” she said, “we’d better get you something to eat too before lunch is over.”
“Yeah, good call,” he replied.
“I’ll bid you both farewell for now,” Sarabeth said. “I have other invitations I need to distribute.”
“Okay,” said Fiona. “If I don’t see you around again today, I’ll see you at the party tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“Thanks again for the invite,” Jack said politely as the vampire made to leave.
“You are welcome,” she replied, just as politely.
They parted ways as all three began to walk. Fiona let out another much smaller belch, putting a hand to her gut as the struggles within increased. Jack side-eyed, but smiled and even chuckled. For all the terrible consequences, he couldn’t help being happy that she was happy.
“If you make any friends at Sarabeth’s party, just… be sure to let me know, okay?” she told him.
“Definitely,” he said. With Fiona’s gurgling belly beside him as a reminder, he would be very sure not to make that mistake again.