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“Oh! And that’s why the letters were so big!” Ambur realized with a laugh. Toby’s smile grew wider at the sound of it.
“Uh-huh, cause Aunt Thess is huge! She’s almost as big as our mom!” the boy replied.
“Are they really that much bigger than Clak?”
“Oh yeah, way bigger!”
“Wow, that must be scary,” Ambur said, trying to imagine.
“No- I mean, Dad can be a little scary, but he’s really nice actually. What about your human dad?”
“He can be a little scary too, sometimes,” she admitted. “But he’d be really scary as a dragon.” She saw how much interest he put into the question, and into her response. “You really haven’t talked to another human before, huh?”
“Nuh-uh, just you.” He thought about the mail human he’d seen once with Aunt Thess, but decided that one didn’t count. He’d seen that man, but not talked. This was different. Very different.
“Um…” Ambur started, leaning in a little closer with a hand to her mouth and a quieter voice. “Are they always just like that?” she asked, pointing upwards with her other hand. Toby glanced up at his siblings, their faces hanging overhead as they lay nearby.
“Like what?” he asked, confused by both the question and the tone.
“They’re just…” She hesitated, not wanting to sound rude, but she forced the thought out. “…staring.”
“Oh!” came Lorn first, hearing the word and suddenly becoming self-conscious.
“Sorry,” Clak offered, apologizing yet again. “I guess we’re just curious too. We’ve never seen another human close up like this except for Toby.”
“Oh,” Ambur replied simply. She’d gotten pretty absorbed in her conversation for a while, but thinking back, she’d done a good amount of staring at first too, hadn’t she? And now that she was looking at them again, she realized she was doing it some more. They just looked so interesting, and the more she looked, the more she thought…
“I… I always thought dragons were supposed to be scary. That’s what most of the grown-ups say. When you grabbed me and ate me, I thought…” Even now, she could feel the dampness in her clothes as the light breeze passed. “…But you really were trying to be nice.” She smiled, then giggled before adding, “You’re just kinda bad at it.”
“Nuh-uh!” Toby insisted, instantly jumping to his brother’s defense. “Clak’s super good at being nice!” The boy then literally jumped up and walked a few steps, gesturing for the brown dragon to lower his head. As soon as it was within reach, the little boy wrapped his little arms as far as they would go around his scaly chin in a big hug. “See? Nice!”
Ambur giggled again, but a bit nervously this time. A thought crossed her mind. She didn’t say anything, but… she stood up. Keeping her eyes fixed on Clak, she watched him watch her approach. He lowered his head fully to the ground. She held her arm by the wrist, close against her body.
“…May I?” she finally asked.
Clak gave his best approving look, unable to speak with his jaw pressed into the dirt.
Mustering all her bravery, Ambur took another step closer to the muzzle that had just swallowed her up. She let herself reach out a hand. And she touched him.
“It’s…” She felt the smooth, living texture of dragon scale under her soft palm. “It’s warm…”
Clak breathed in, and out; air rushing through his nostrils, carrying the scents of the forest, his siblings, and this new human girl whom he’d now met. The gusts ruffled her hair and her clothes.
“Oh yes, he’s definitely warm,” Toby agreed, then added without really thinking, “especially on the inside.”
He immediately saw Ambur’s expression shift, shadowed by returning fear. The little girl was once again keenly aware of the hot, slimy, hungry ‘inside’ that was lurking just behind that wall of scales.
“No but don’t be scared!” Toby insisted.
“Toby…” Lorn said with a small sigh. “You’re special, remember? But she’s just a normal human. She won’t feel the same way about bellies that you do.”
“Oh, right… sorry,” the boy’s enthusiasm dropped sharply and he looked to the ground, realizing his mistake. “…But… But I could still show her, right? I mean, she could still visit me in there just for a tiny bit?” The words were mumbled quietly and meekly, like he already knew the answer but didn’t want it to be true.
Clak raised his head enough to speak, trying to go slowly to keep from startling Ambur. The little girl, to her credit, held herself together as the giant scaly face moved away.
“It’s weird, huh?” the dragon said with a touch of warmth. “You’re pretty used to playing in bellies and being safe. Feels easy not to worry, right?” Toby gave a weak sort of nod. “Me too,” Clak admitted. “I’m so used to having you in there now, I didn’t even really think about it when I went to get her…” He took a mildly regretful pause. “But Lorn’s right. You’re special. It is dangerous and scary for her. You’ve told me about what happens in there when we eat…”
A recent memory flashed through Toby’s mind. He’d just spent hours packed inside his sister’s stomach, watching her food melt away into goopy nothing. That would probably happen to Ambur too if she stayed inside too long… The little boy’s frown lingered for a moment, before transforming into a look of resolve.
“Right,” Toby declared emphatically, turning to his new friend with a stern face. “Sorry Ambur, no belly time for you.” He couldn’t help sounding a bit like a chiding elder; after all, that’s the only way he’d ever really heard those words himself.
“Yes… good…” the confused girl replied. She nodded in clear agreement, understanding at least that they had all just decided she shouldn’t get eaten up by a dragon again. What she didn’t understand is why any of them, especially Toby, seemed so reluctant about that. It almost… “It almost started to sound like it’s something you do for fun.”
Once again, Ambur found herself saying something that sounded completely silly. She almost laughed at herself. Except, once again, she found Toby very clearly nodding back in agreement. The laugh died in her throat, her eyes went wide and she stared at the glowing boy. He’d told her a lot of wild things, but…
“Your dragon family… swallows you, for fun?”
“Uh-huh,” Toby confirmed with another nod. Her reaction seemed to make him a bit anxious, but she hardly noticed. For the moment, her mind was suddenly filled with images of dragon after dragon just walking up and chomping down on this little boy, one after another, all day long. The idea of them all ‘playing with him’ like that made her very uneasy.
“And you… let them?”
“Let us?” Lorn interrupted with a deep chuckle. “I think he’d do it even more if we didn’t stop him when we were full or have chores to do.”
“I think he enjoys it more than we do,” Clak added in agreement.
The idea in Ambur’s head suddenly reversed itself, becoming slightly less frightening but so much more confusing.
“Bu- B- H-How can you enjoy something like that!?” she blurted out in disbelief. Her new friend might have taken her words a little too literally.
“Like this,” Toby replied helpfully.
He motioned for Clak to lower his head again. It touched down just in front of the two children, and the little glowing boy wasted no time at all putting his hands to the scales and actively pulling open the giant jaws. Of course, Toby was far too small to actually do that himself, but the brown dragon felt his brother’s tiny hands and went along with it.
Ambur saw the shadowy maw open right before her eyes and took a frightened step back. Huge, pointed teeth guarded a long, glistening, red passage that stretched off into the depths and pulsed with the dragon’s breath.
Toby climbed right in.
He pulled himself up the scaly lip, carefully climbed through a familiar gap in Clak’s teeth and crawled forward onto the slimy tongue before standing up. The boy’s glow cast away some of the shadows, showing off the deep, vibrant, fleshy colors in full, along with every rivulet of drool and puddle of saliva.
“Here I come!” he announced. Then, without another word, he dashed forward and leapt, chest-first onto the massive sea of taste buds.
Ambur saw the whole thing; watched his light glitter over the red, as the boy slid face-first all the way down the length of the muscle, and right over the edge.
*glurk*
*Eeep*!
She couldn’t help but squeal at the sight and sound, seeing the boy her size suddenly disappear behind a wall of flesh in an instant.
Clak lightly raised his head and there, at the top of his neck, was a slight, distinct bulge. Sliding. Ambur stared at it, gripped by concern, surprise and a hint of wonder. The lump of brown scales smoothly worked its way along the dragon’s throat, slipping further and further across the gently winding path until it finally passed into the massive, waiting chest and vanished from view.
Dumbstruck silence followed.
“…Ambur!”
“Toby!” the girl screamed. Without much thinking, she ran toward the muffled cry she’d heard and ended up face to face with the wall of scales that covered Clak’s side.
“Hi Ambur!” The cheer in his voice carried easily through the many living layers, his words much clearer at this distance.
“A-Are you okay!?”
“Yeah! Clak’s belly is really soft.”
*guurgle*
“C-Come back out,” she stuttered, still staring.
“Okay, but wait a second, I wanted to show you how I have fun when I-”
“Come back out! I don’t want you to die!” Her shout interrupted him and then hung in the air.
For a moment, everything seemed to stop and grow quiet. It was Lorn who broke the silence, speaking as softly as she could.
“Neither do we.”
The little girl quickly looked up at the dragoness, a hint of panic in her eyes. The response was steady and calm; soothing; gentle.
“I used to be scared too… I love my little brother. The first time I thought about swallowing him, like he was just going to be another piece of food, it was… so, so scary. But I trusted him, when he promised me he would be okay.” Lorn ended with a small smile, just as Clak spoke up.
“Toby is different. He’s special. Somehow, it’s like bellies can’t hurt him. Nothing in there can hurt him.” The brown dragon gave a half-minded clench, just holding his little brother that much closer, feeling his form safely tucked away. His guts gave another harmless rumble. “I don’t know if you can understand but… I swear I wouldn’t let him do this if he was in danger.”
“None of us would,” Lorn agreed.
“…Are… are you really okay in there, Toby?” With her very recent memory, she had a hard time accepting the idea, but…
“Promise,” the little boy replied behind the wall of living scales.
“… … Okay,” Ambur finally replied, breath still a bit shaky. “B-But could you come back out anyway? It’s kinda hard to talk to you like this.”
“Hm, I guess you’re right,” admitted the muffled voice. “Okay.”
That was all the cue Clak needed. Ambur saw the sudden shift of muscles from somewhere deep within the dragon’s chest, and heard the faint, wet sounds as gases and juices churned and one little boy was firmly grasped and pushed along.
That little bulge reappeared at the base of the brown neck, and just as smoothly it worked its way back along the winding, arching path, until finally it reached the dragon’s mouth once again. Clak dipped his muzzle and parted his jaws, and out popped little Toby, landing on his feet with a quiet splat and a gentle glow.
The first thing he saw in the outside world as the red retreated, was Ambur. She’d started rushing toward him the second he was revealed, with a relieved face and her arms out wide like she was about to grab him.
But after only a step or two, her expression abruptly changed and she slid to a stop, throwing her arms over her eyes.
“Eeeep! You- What happened to my jacket!?”
Toby looked down over himself, only now realizing that anything was amiss.
“Oh! Oh no!” he yelled. “Clak, Clak! Let me back in! I think it fell off in your belly!”
He literally jumped the moment his maw was back in reach, wriggling towards the waiting throat even before his brother’s muzzle tilted back to swallow.
*gulp*
Ambur uncovered her eyes at about that time, and suddenly felt the strongest sense of deja vu. She watched the bulge that she knew was Toby, travel once again down into his draconic brother’s belly. She heard the faint splash this time, signaling his arrival, followed by another series of splashes as he presumably dug around in the pool of chyme, hunting for his lost clothes.
“Found it!” he eventually called, proud and triumphant. “Okay Ambur, I’m coming out again, for real this time,” he announced.
And so he did. With another squelch, and a slithering bulge and a casual dip of Clak’s snout, Toby appeared on the ground again, this time with her jacket properly tied up around his waist like she’d told him, though now dripping with a fresh new coating of dragon chyme. She still wouldn’t be hugging him, but she was glad he was okay.
“Better?” he asked, still not quite sure how his new friend would react. She nodded and started to giggle.
“You’re weird,” she said innocently through her laugh.
“Oh, um, sorry?” he offered awkwardly.
“It’s okay,” she assured him.
“Are you… happy I came to meet you?”
She nodded some more. It had been scary, and gross, and definitely weird, but… she was. They all shared a happy silence.
Unfortunately, someone had to break it eventually…
“Toby…” came Clak’s reluctant voice, in the tone someone uses when they know they have to say something no one wants to hear. “We need to start thinking about going back home soon.”
The little boy frowned, his light dimming visibly. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Ambur yet, he’d waited so long just to meet her and-
“Hey,” the little girl spoke up, “next time you cannot just grab me in the middle of town and carry me off, even if you don’t eat me. People will get scared, or maybe even mad.”
Next time, Toby thought. He drew in the words like he’d been holding his breath. She… she wanted him to visit again! But… but his family, would they-
“Oh, that’s a good point,” Clak agreed. “We definitely don’t want that.”
“There’s a spot in the woods I know how to find. I’m sure I could meet you there if we plan a day.”
“Sure, okay. You… aren’t going to tell any of the other humans about this, are you?” the brown dragon asked. Meeting this girl had proven his intuition right about a lot of things, but he still remembered the stories…
“No way!” Ambur replied emphatically. “My uncle would completely lose his senses if I told him I was meeting with dragons.”
“I’m pretty sure ours would too if he found out we’d come to see you,” Lorn chimed in with a chuckle.
*sniffle*
Both draconic siblings immediately looked down to their little brother.
“Toby? What’s wrong?” Clak asked.
“You-” *sniff* “you mean it? We- we can come visit again?” went the boy, tearing up. The older pair shared a quiet look.
“Of course we can, Toby,” Clak said gently.
The little boy made a squeaking sort of noise, and immediately rushed over and threw his arms as far as they would go around his big brother’s leg.
“I love you,” he said quietly.
“…Hey, what about me?” Lorn said teasingly with a big smile, dipping her head down to his level. “Don’t forget who carried you all the way h-”
She was interrupted when the tiny human dashed from Clak’s leg and next threw his arms around her chin, glowing brighter than the sunlight against the ground.
“We love you too, Toby,” she murmured quietly, almost a rumble.
A warm, tender moment passed before anyone felt the need to speak again.
“Can you take us to that spot?” Clak eventually asked Ambur. “You’ll be able to find your way back home from there, right?”
“Oh- Um, yes,” the little girl replied. She’d been so captivated by the sight of the siblings. She never would have believed… But it was clear that many of the grown-ups back home were very wrong about dragons. “It’s, um… Which way is the place where you grabbed me?”
Clak arched his neck and pointed with his snout in response.
“I think we should start going that way then,” the little girl instructed.
The dragon nodded, so Ambur took a step in that direction, and then another.
“Hey, wait for me!” Toby called, wiping his eyes and running from his sister to catch up.
“Hehehe, don’t worry, I think it’s pretty far. Clak had me for a while… especially after I was inside…”
“No I didn’t!” he objected, though he tried not to sound too loud. “I know I shouldn’t have swallowed you, but I was being careful. You were barely in there at all.”
“Well, it definitely felt like a while,” she replied.
Lorn chuckled at the little girl’s tone as she brought up the rear of the group.
“Oh, um, by the way,” Toby started to ask. “When do you want this back?” He held up one arm of her jacket, half untying it from his waist.
“Keep it!” Ambur replied rather quickly, taking his hand and pushing it back down. She noticed as her fingers brushed it, that it was still saturated with cooling belly slime. “…Keep it,” she repeated, a bit calmer, though with some fresh disgust. “Next time I’ll bring some extra pants.”
Next time, Toby thought again.
He smiled, and his glow grew brighter.