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commorsicoclub · 4 years

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The Commorisco Club (6)

No actual Vore occurs in this chapter, but a lot mentioning of it, some light teasing, and a good amount of flushing out of characters’ personalities.

Chapter Six: The Songbirds.

“I don’t understand why I can’t just walk...” Erin mumbled from Magnus’s arms. “Or are you gonna say food doesn’t walk itself back to the pantry?”

There came a light chuckle from the demon who was carrying her. “I wasn’t going to say that, but you do make an astute observation,” Magnus replied in an easy going manner. “No, I was going to say that if I let you walk back yourself and one of the others were to happen upon you that...well. I don’t think that sentence needs expounding. That and do you even know they way?”

“No, but I mean...Well, walk me back, fine,” she retorted. “But let me do it under my own power. This is...kind of humiliating. On top of a lot of other humiliating junk I already have to deal with.”

She had not been looking at his face as she spoke, but rather she watched the giant hallway as they made their way back to the velvet room. Or rather the larder, as she had learned it was called. The scale of them made her acutely aware of just how small she was in this world. And the over the top ornate furnishings continued beyond Magnus’s office. Who they were trying to impress, she was not sure. Or perhaps they were just that wealthy. If Magnus’s word on the price he paid to have a “sample” of her were to believed, these Demons who kept her and her friends were, for a lack of a better term, loaded. Which would begin to explain the ostentatious wardrobe and jewelery. How did economics work in the Netherworld? Did they pay taxes? And they called themselves a club. So was their reservation at the Black Hole where they first met technically a business expense?

These were the thoughts that bounced around in her head, so that when Magnus arms pressed her upwards and she heard a suspiciously smug hum from him, she looked up.

“Oh,” he purred. Magnus’s face was very close to her and his eyes flashed violet as his tongue slipped out between his smirking lips to lick at her. “Are you referring to this?”

“DON’T!” She yelled, falling back to sink further into the crook of his arm and swinging out her leg as though to kick him and his tongue away. He tipped his head back with a highly amused chuckle just as her foot swung, missing him by only a foot or so. Erin was left red faced as she squawked indignantly at him. “You said you wouldn’t do that again!”

“Oh no, no, no,” Magnus replied matter-of-factually and held a finger up as he elaborated. “I think you’ll find I did not agree to that demand and informed you of such at the time. You can’t blame me if you only hearing what you want to hear, Erin.” She huffed through her nose, glowering at him all the while, to which he returned with a grin and a wink.

“You’re lucky they took my shoes,” she informed him as she righted herself. “If I had my cleats with me...”

Magnus made a face of disgust and shook his head. “Ugh, shoes. No thank you. They give me horrible indigestion.”

She furrowed her brows, confused. “But you said you’d never eaten a human before...well, before me.”

“What? You don’t think Demons wear shoes?” he asked bewildered and then for emphasis, jumped up with a quick motion with his feet and jostling Erin badly as she desperatlt clung to the fabric of his sleeve. There came a rhythmic clacking by the distinct tapping of his hard sole loafers onto the hard floor. “I realize your observational skills are wanting, but I am in fact wearing shoes. Very nice shoes, I might add.”

“Okay, fine,” she replied, trying to settle her racing heart. “Now how about the part where you let me walk?”

“While I do have much in the way of movement when it comes to my schedule,” Magnus replied. “I do have some business that need to be tended to and indulging your bruised pride would only delay that. I would take a mere two steps and have to wait for you to catch up.”

“I could run,” Erin offered. “I am a fast runner, you know. I was on the track team in high school.”

“Track team?” he asked, his interest clearly piqued. “What did you track?”

“Huh? No, not like that kind of tracking,” Erin laughed for what may have been the first time in several days. “We competed to see who could run the fastest or jump the highest.”

“You just ran?” Magnus asked. “Like in a circle?”

“No! We…well, the track was a big circle, but we did other stuff….”

She was interrupted but Magnus’s laughter and sheepishly, she began to try and think of a response when he shifted his grip on her from cradling her in the crook of his arm to holder her securely about the middle.

“Very well,” he said with a breathy chuckle as he bent down to place her feet first on the floor. “Let’s see these incredible speeds of yours.”

She looked down the hall; its long and seemingly endless length stretching out before her. She turned to look back at Magnus who just stared back with an open expression. Curious and expectant. Experimentally, she splayed her toes and felt them grip onto the hard surface. She was not sure if it was tile or stone or porcelain, but she could tell her shoe less feet would have excellent purchase. Almost giddy, she turned and within three steps, she was flying down the corridor. She felt the air trail over her shoulders and neck and brush her short hair back. The rush of wind in her ears was freeing and intoxicating…

“Erin!” Magnus’s call shook her from the grip of her momentary glee and she slowed and stopped, turning around to see the Demon standing only twenty or so feet from where she had first started running. He gestured to the very blank wall beside him. “You ran right past it, Pet.”

“What?” she asked, slightly winded. “But there’s no door.”

“Oh?” he asked in mocking bewilderment. With his pinky, he drew a circle onto the wall beside him and then a single line straight through it and the shape took form as a glowing rune. The wallpaper split and began to peel away in long gangling strips and as they fell to the floor, they evaporated like water droplets on a searing hot skillet until finally there was a door where one had not been before. A distinctive teal door. Finished with his machinations, Magnus turned a single eye to the human girl, the corners of his mouth curled in an indulgent smile. “Come now. In you go, Pet.”

She made it two steps back towards him when she stopped, a sudden thought striking her like lightning. She could just turn and run. Run as fast as her feet had ever carried her.

“Erin.”

He would probably catch her, but she would give him a run for it and the idea tickled her brain in a very pleasant, almost vindictive way. She could take back a small bit of freedom, even if only a moment, have command over herself for a while until they forced her to comply to the role they forced her into.

“Erin.”

The idea of it had her heart ache with want.

“Erin.”

She jumped as the shadow fell over her and looking into Magnus’s face, she found the confidant smirk gone and replaced with suspicion and accusations all in one. The dull color of his irises pulsed a bright violet and she instinctively took a step back as he issues a single command, “Enough.”

She nodded in hasty agreement and knew she had made a mistake.

“I won’t have you making a fool of me, child.” She shook her head and braced herself when his hands descended with alarming speed to pluck her up and the sensation caused her head to swim with virtigo. In a few short strides, he was at the teal door and with his free hand, he reached out to grab the door handle, but paused. He shifted her so he held her aloft and in front of his face and he eyed her. Erin squirmed with unease, worried that she had crossed some line and was genuinely sorry for it.

“I’m sorry...” her words were barely above a whisper.

“Where would you have even gone?”

“Nowhere, I just…I just wanted to run for a little bit.”

“There isn’t anywhere for you to run,” he told her. “Except right into someone’s gullet.”

“Please, I’m sorry,” she said. “Don’t be angry, I’m sorry.”

A frustrated sigh.

“I understand that you deeply dislike this,” he said to her, his voice serious and stern, but the steel had softened into something more admonishing. “But this is the safest place for you when you are not with me. Do you understand, Erin?”

She nodded.

“I need to hear you say the words.”

“I-I….understand.”

His eyes continued to stare into her for several long moments before he closed them with a sigh. “You’re a terrible liar,” he told her. “But it will do for now.” And he placed her back down on her own feet. She looked to him for explanation, her brow furrowing in confusion as he turned the brass handle and pushed the door open. He regarded her expectantly and gestured to the open doorway. “Well? If being able to walk under your own power is what you wish for, go on. I can allow you this small measure of indulgence. It isn’t much, but for now it is what I can offer.”

The tight wad of worry that had twisted up inside her when she thought she had angered him eased and she gratefully took his offer and scurried through the entrance, under her own power, and into the familiar velvet walls of the larder. She heard the clacking of his shoes follow her inside and the sound of the door softly closing.

Suddenly, Danny was beside her, gripping her arms and looking into her face with anguish. “Oh my god, Erin! Are you alright? You were gone for so long we started to think maybe they’d...”

It was then that Danny noticed Magnus and his grip on her arms turned fervent as he began to hastily pull her away from the towering demon and closer to the cloister of cushions and humans. Erin did not resist, clear headed enough to understand that Danny was simply panicking. He did not know what kind of a demon Magnus was, only that bad things happened when one was inside the larder with them. In a strange way, she thought it was very sweet of him to try and protect her.

Mangus observed the boy’s reaction with a sort of amused befuddlement. “Curious. Tell me, if I had wanted to take her back, what would you have done to stop me?”

Danny pushed Erin behind her and it was then she noticed the way his whole body was shaking, but not from fear. Not entirely anyway. He was drained and weak and yet was still trying to keep himself between her and Magnus. Misguided, but sweet.

“Probably couldn’t do anything,” Danny admitted behind gritted teeth. “But I know you won’t hurt me, either.”

“Oh?” Magnus asked, the sound of his voice like velvet. His eyes pulsed and he let himself slip into the look of a true predator with a hungry gleam and licking lips. “You do, do you?”

“Yeah,” Danny almost laughed. He looked delirious with fatigue and fear. “Because I know Archeon would kick your ass for it.”

“Ah. So you’re Archeon’s little treat,” Magnus mused aloud. The teasing predator act dropped and he was once more easy going and curious. “That explains it then. Well, have no fear. Erin is free of my malicious clutches for this evening.”

“Danny,” she said, grabbing his shoulder. “It’s alright. He didn’t hurt me.”

“He ate you,” Danny snarled. “That’s more than enough...”

“Erin, my pet, it looks as though I owe you an apology for my earlier remarks,” Magnus said amused. “Perhaps you have the normal amount of feelings for a human after all. Especially in comparison to this one.” He pointed to Danny. “Sit yourself down, child. You’ve barely enough energy to stand let alone defend her from me. And as I have already said: she is free of me for this evening.”

Danny’s legs answered for him and he collapsed hard on the floor with a curse. Erin grabbed onto him to try and help him up and back onto his cushion, but Magnus’s shadow fell over them and his hands were suddenly there, scooping the drained boy into his clutches. Danny cursed and kicked weakly at the fingers.

“You human never turn off, do you?”

“Put me down goddammit!”

“I am,” Magnus snapped back. “So stop wiggling so much or I might actually drop you.”

He sat Danny down onto a vacant cushion and let the little human huff and glare at him, clearly expecting something more to happen. Erin went to his side to try and explain, but Magnus spoke before she could.

“Has Gobbler been here to refilled your food stores?” he asked, looking around the room and spotting the munitions crate abandoned off the far corner.

“No,” James said tiredly from his own cushion. “We still have some left over from yesterday.”

“But they’re all the weird ones nobody wants to eat.” Michael added.

“And we have no water.”

“And no where to piss.”

Magnus rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Archeon was supposed to have all this handled. I told Rolland he would forget the details, but no...” He sighed. “Fine. I’ll have Gobbler come and drop off your rations. As for water and somewhere to relieve yourselves, I can solve that just fine.”

He went to the back of the room and pushed his hands around the fabric, seeming to be searching for something on the other side and he made a sound of triumph and pulled the curtains back to reveal a wide round hole in the wall made of opalescent teal tiles and beyond it, Erin could hear running water.

“Will that suffice?” Magnus asked, clearly pleased with himself. But when none of the humans save for Erin expressed anything close to grateful, or even acknowledged him, he frowned pensively. “Hm. I will speak to the others in regards to their feeding habits. It’s been many hours since they fed on you all and you’re still weak as wet sand.”

“Why would you care?” James asked, not even looking at Magnus and just stared blankly up at the ceiling. “What does it matter?”

“It does matter, little humans. It matter a great deal,” Magnus told them, his face brooding. “The chief reason being how irate Rolland would be to find our investments being neglected right under his nose.”

At the mentioning of Rolland’s name, Erin suddenly remembered Valarie and she searched the room for her. Her cushion had been pushed under the gold metal awning and she lay there with her back to all of them, curled in on herself and unmoving. Erin frowned, her heart breaking for her.

“Heh. Investments.” Danny was saying lethargically. “Oh no! Better not let the food get too sad, fellas. Might makes them taste bad.”

James answered Danny’s morbid statement with a dark laugh. “Don’t want the meat to spoil.”

Erin remained quiet as she watched the exchange and she was very surprised to see concern on Magnus’s face. She wondered if it he felt concern for them as pure ‘investments’ or as people.

“I have work that I need to see to, but I’ll send for Gobbler,” he said, tuning his gaze to her. “Erin.”

“Uh, oh. Yeah?”

“Take care of them,” he said turning towards the door. “I’ll see what improvements I can make.”

“Magnus,” she called just as he would have slipped through the door. He paused to look at her. “Thank you.”

He smiled and inclined his head to her. “Until then.”

The last she saw of him was a pulse of his eyes, a teasing warning that he would be back. And probably very hungry.

……………………………..

It was less then five minutes later that Gobbler arrived, looking displeased as he waddled into the room and was mumbling to himself.

“Gobbler knows Gobbler’s works,” he grumbled. “Knows all ups and overs fer it. Gobbler ain’t be fergettin no meats needin’ feedin’. Too soon fer meat feedin’ anyhow. Meats just be sleep. Meats complain too much.”

The shorter demon hunkered down, opening his horrible mouth wide and another munitions box hurled out from somewhere deep inside the toad. It landed and rolled and stopped a few feet from Erin. Thick veins of mucus and drool pooling on the floor under it and she backed away from his in revulsion.

“Thanks, Gobbler,” Danny said in mock appreciation and gave a lazy salute. “You’re a gentlemen and a scholar.”

Gobbler paused when he would have turned and left. He stared at Danny, the folds of his face moving oddly and they pulled back into a...smile? It was a hideous and terrifying display of teeth, but he looked very much as though he were trying to smile.

“Meat say good ‘bout Gobbler,” he said in awe. “Gobbler bein’ happy meat say good about Gobbler. Master say to Gobbler that Gobbler take care of meat. So Gobbler take cares ‘a meat.”

“Oh...yeah. Cool. So, I don’t suppose you have anything else in there?” Danny asked idly, pointing to Gobbler’s rotund belly that made up most of his bulk.

“What meat be wishin’?”

Danny laughed sardonically. “ Oooh, so many thing. But...uh, how about a guitar?”

Erin could tell Danny was just messing around with Gobbler, but the odd expression on the little demon’s face gave her pause.

“Gee-tar?”

“Yeah, an instrument. It’s got strings and looks likes this,” Danny ran his fingers into the air in a vague shape of a guitar body.

“Meat wants a diddly-winkle?”

Danny suppressed a grin and nodded. “Sure, dude. I’d love one.”

Gobbler put his hands to his belly and began to poke and prod and his flesh as though searching through the contents of his guts to find a “diddly-winkle”. Then, he hunkered down just as before, opening his great maw and something that was decidedly not a munitions box flew from his throat. It sailed over their heads and Erin bristled as she saw it coming at her. She ran to meet it as it fell and reached out to catch it just before it smashed upon the floor.

It was a guitar.

She looked to Danny who sat there staring, wide eyed in disbelief. Erin winced when she felt the warm globules of Gobbler mucus slime up her hands and she shuddered. Oh this was a thousand times worse than Magnus’s drool. The guitar was intact and no worse for wear other than being completely drenched in the toad demon’s mouth excretions.

“Erin, let me see it!” Danny said, waving her over excitedly. She handed it over and grinned when the eager light in Danny’s eyes faded for a brief moment as his hands met the sticky drool. “Ugh.” He shirked off his hoodie and began to wipe away the wet from the instrument. Once he seemed happy with it, he sat it in his lap and his fingers went to the string, strumming. It made a clear and clean sound and Danny looked as though he were about to cry.

“Meat likes diddly-wickles?” Gobbler asked.

“Gobbler,” Danny said, looking to the toad, his eyes sparkling with pure joy. “You’re the best and anyone who says different is an idiot.”

Gobbler’s yellow eyes opened a little wider in clear bliss. Erin supposed he had never received such a compliment before.

“Gobbler happy meats is happy,” he answered. “Gobbler come more to see meats is happy.”

“Oh, yeah. Meats is happy,” Danny said replied, his fingers incrementally making their way down the neck of the guitar as he listened and adjusted with each pluck of a note. “Meats is definitely happy.”

“Hey, Gobbler,” James called out, sitting up. “You wouldn’t happen to have like, I dunno. A portal back to the human world in there do you?”

Gobbler looked at James oddly and then grinned again in his odd and kind of terrifying way. “Ah. Meats got funny libbers. Meats is funny.”

“It was worth a shot...” James sighed as he eased himself to sit on the edge of the cushioned.

Gobbler left with a little more pep in his waddle and with a promise to come and see if they needed anything else later. Erin and James opened the munitions box using Danny’s hoodie to clean it up and they had expected for it to be filled with sandwiches again, but this time they were filled with boxes covered in delicate and beautiful paper like origami. Erin pulled a box out and unwrapped it. More asian characters she could not read stared up at her. Inside the plastic, she could see white rice, slices of some sort of vibrant neon yellow vegetable, and what looked like a small roasted fish.

“Oh shit,” James said, looking at the foods inside. “These are like those...those japanese lunch box things.”

“Bento?” Michael asked, sitting up abruptly from his bed like a daisy popping up from the weakened grasp of winter. His eyes were wide and hopeful. “Really?”

James looked over his shoulder at him. “How do you know what bento’s are, meat head?”

“My grandmother is half Japanese, fuck-wit,” he said, slowly making his way over to the food stuff. “She use to pack me a bento everyday for school till I was in 7th grade.”

“So can you tell us what theses are and which ones are gross?”

“They’re all fine! Most of it’s rice and meat or fish or...oh, wait. Not that one. That one’s nasty.”

James obediently slipped it into the reject pile. “What is it?”

“Stinky fermemnted soy beans.”

“Yeah, that’s a hard pass for me.”

“Save it,” Erin suggested, grabbing a bento and walking off to where Valarie was laying down. “Maybe Gobbler would like it.”

Valarie had yet to move or speak since Erin had returned and when she approached her, she could see that she was awake. Her eyes were listless and red. She looked utterly broken and she could hardly blame her. “Valarie? I have some food if you’re hungry.”

She didn’t acknowledge Erin at all and after several moments of silence, Erin placed the box near here Valarie could easily grab it. “It’s just here if you’re hungry.”

As they began sorting the boxes with Michael doing his best to tell them what everything was, Danny was happily plucking away at his new toy. He wasn’t playing much of anything close to a song, but contented himself with doodling about and warming up his fingers. Erin grabbed one of the bentos and walked over to him.

“Here,” she said. “It’s fried chicken.”

Danny blinked at her and then looked down. “Oh! Yeah, food. Cool.”

She sat next to him with her own box, rice with egg and some sort of seaweed salad that tasted mostly of sesame oil. They didn’t have any utensils so they ate with their hands.

“So,” Danny asked, mouth full of chicken. “Why were you gone so long? Did that guy like...keep you in his stomach longer than normal?”

“No actually,” she replied. “He barely drained me at all. I was in his office mostly.”

Danny stopped mid-chew to look at her. “Huh?”

“He said he wanted to find some kind of center to it. That he could drain me enough for him to be happy without leaving me sick for days after.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “Doesn’t that mean he’ll just come back sooner to gobble you up?”

“I...I don’t know. He said he ate before he came to get me. So he could try it and see if it made any difference. I don’t feel very tired at all.”

“Luck you,” Danny replied, taking another bite. He grinned suddenly, and said, “Hey, I’ll trade you for Archeon.”

“No freaking way,” Erin said. “That guy is your problem.”

Danny nodded with a sigh of resignation. “Yeah. So why’s he doing it? Your demon dude. Why not just do what they’re all doing, drain you till their full, and leave you alone for a while? Why worry about how badly you feel?”

“He wanted to talk.”

“...talk?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “He wants to know more about us. He’s curious.”

“So he’s a weirdo?” Erin snorted, covering her mouth and trying not to spit rice all over herself.

“Hey music man,” Michael called from his seat. “You gonna play us something or what?”

Danny stuffed the last piece of chicken into his mouth and chewed as he started playing some random bit of songs. Some she recognized, but mostly not, but it felt wonderful to hear the sound of the string. Once he has finished his food, Danny looked around to his audience and grinned. “Alright, do we have any requests?”

“Wonderwall,” James called.

“My Heart Will Go On!” Michael added.

“Okay, those are terrible ideas,” Danny replied and started into a rhythmic plucking in a very familiar way that then fell into a series of easy chords just as he opened his mouth and began to sing.

“Every time when I look in the mirror All these lines on my face getting clearer The past is gone It went by, like dusk to dawn Isn't that the way Everybody's got the dues in life to pay”

Danny closed his eyes as his hands began to strum harder at the strings, his knee jerking in time to the rhythm. He appeared as though he was gone from the world and the only thing to exist for him was the weight of the guitar in his hands and feel of the strings as his fingers slide down the frets.

“I know nobody knows Where it comes and where it goes I know it's everybody sin You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life

Is books, written pages

Lived and learned from fools and

From sages

You know its true

Oh!

All these feelings come back to you...”

As the chorus came in, James started to sing along and Michael quickly joined in. Erin mouthed the words, but the sound of all their voices practically screaming the lyrics made her smile wide enough to make her face ache until she didn’t care anymore and started belting along with them.

“Sing with me, sing for the years Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears Sing with me, just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away...”

There was a cathartic release as the song continued, each of them not caring how off key or pitchy they were and as the song fell into the last verse of repeated “dream on, dream on, dream on” their volume grew to a fever pitch that Danny matched with each hard thrum of the chords.

“Dream on Dream on Dream on Dream until your dreams come true!”

Erin started laughing as the echoes of the last note hung in the hair and she could hear Michael and James and Danny all doing the same.

“Woo!” Michael hooted. “Damn that was good.”

Erin opened her mouth to agree and then stopped. Valarie was sitting up and eating slowly and with not a lot of enthusiasm, but she was eating. Danny noticed as well and suddenly was on his feet walking over to her. As he eased down to sit on the edge of the cushion, he looked at Valarie.

“Hey,” he said gently. “How you feeling?” She didn’t answer him and just put another small bit of food into her mouth, chewing methodically. Danny looked crestfallen by her lack of acknowledgment. He glanced at her and then put his hands to the guitar again. “Got any requests? If I know it, I’ll play it. No matter how bad the song. Whatever you want.”

Valarie paused and carefully placed the bit of food back onto her plate. Her mouth moved, but it was too quiet for Erin to hear, but Danny was smiling and nodding.

“Alright. G major okay?”

She nodded, never averting her eyes from her lap. The sounds of the guitar filled the room again, but instead of the energetic thrumming of a rock ballad, the notes he played were slower. Sadder. He looked at Valarie as he opened his mouth and sang to her.

“Tell me somethin', girl Are you happy in this modern world? Or do you need more? Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for? I'm falling In all the good times I find myself longin' for change And in the bad times I fear myself...”

Danny looked at Valarie expectantly and when she made no move or sound to pick up the next verse, he sighed. But as he took a breath to start it himself, Valarie began to sing in a small voice. Unsure and unused.

“Tell me something boy Aren't you tired tryin' to fill that void? Or do you need more? Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore? I'm falling In all the good times I find myself longin' for change And in the bad times I fear myself...”

Her voice grew stronger as she sung and Valarie stared of into space as though singing to someone far away. She took a deep breath and with a voice of a trained soprano sang out the next verses, heavy with emotion and power.

“I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in I'll never meet the ground Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us We're far from the shallow now...”

Erin’s jaw dropped and Danny was grinning madly. Valarie had an amazing voice and in the back of her mind she remembered Danny say something about her possibly being a vocal major, but he hadn’t been sure. She left no one in doubt as she and Danny’s mismatched voices found a kind of harmony as they finished the last portions of the song in duet.

“We’re far from the shallows now...” Valarie’s voice drifted away and the room was silent until Danny made a noise of delight.

“OOOOOOh!” he laid the guitar down and put his hand on her shoulder. “Valarie, you are so freaking GOOD!”

She gave him a small smile, her pale face a little flusher as she blushed. “Thank you.”

“Why are you slumming it out in our freaking school? Why aren’t you at Juliard or something?”

“I’m still doing my prerequisite work before I go to an audition,” she said and then paused. All the joy in her face drained away and she sank back into herself. “Or rather...I was.”

Danny’s face fell and he nodded in grim understanding.

“I wanted to be an opera singer,” she said. “Ever since my parents took me to see Carmen when I was little. I wanted to be able to sing like that.”

“Carmen?” Danny asked. “Isn’t that about a prostitute or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Well,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I think you would have nailed that audition.”

She turned to him and gave him a grateful, if not forced, smile. “Thank you.”

The rest of the day Danny fiddled on the guitar and spent hours trying to keep it in tune. “I mean, for being in Gobbler’s guts for as long as it must have, it still plays great!”

They were able to coax Valarie out of her hole and eat with them and they spent their dinner trying the bizarre and unfamiliar foods inside the bento boxes. James even tried the fermented soybeans, but regretted it immediately as he began to spit it out and gagging on the lingering taste, which Michael found to be highly hilarious.

Erin took a moment to explore the tiled hole in the wall that Magnus had shown them. It took them a while for her to find it again as she pushed and pulled against the fabric, but once the blue tiled room opened to her, she slipped inside. It was colder than the velvet room with teal tiles covering every surface. There was a fountain at it’s center, a round pool with a small obelisk at it’s center made of white marble. Water poured from slits at the top that flowed down the sides of the obelisk and filled the pool beneath. She went to it and drank deeply. The water tasted fresher than the tap water at home and she had not realized just how parched she was. She cupped some water in her hands and splashed it against her face, relishing in the cool sensation of water droplets on her face and clinging to her hair.

At least three days, she mused. Perhaps even four. They must have been there at least three days. And she was aware of how the clothes on her back itched. She’d been wearing the same pair of jean shorts and t-shirt the entire time and after two trips to a demon’s belly, she was suddenly desperate for a wash. Further into the room she saw another water feature of a long cascading wall of water that flowed from the ceiling and into another pool, this one much deeper. She stuck her foot inside and shivered. It was ice cold. But she was desperate. So she quickly stripped and jumped into the pool.

Every muscle tensed and she gasped as the frigid waters sucked the heat from her. She began to furiously scrub at herself and her hair, trying to clean herself as fast as possible. When she could not stand the cold water anymore, she hobbled out and with some difficulty, put her clothes back on. She stayed there, shivering, for a while and letting her mind go numb along with her extremities.

When Magnus has come to eat her, she had been so terrified. And though the knowledge that he would come again to once more feed upon her did stills scare her...he no longer did. Not in the same way. He had wanted to talk to her. Ask her things. He was curious and for a man eating demon, he was awfully kind. Much kinder than any of his fellows were. She felt bad for Valarie who had to give herself over to the worse of them. Rolland. He had tortured her before eating her, dragging it out, and demeaning her once he had her in his belly. And Valarie was so sweet and nice. She had feared for Danny in the same way, but seeing his eyes light up as he played his guitar, she had less fear for him now.

But Valarie…

…………………………………...

He lazily swirled his goblet, letting the last few sips spin around inside as he stared at his fellow Demon across the table, eyeing him with thinly veiled annoyance. “You want us to what?”

Magnus returned Rolland’s cool stare. “We should not be draining the humans to the degree that we have.”

Rolland scowled.

“We’ve already had this discussion,” Rolland informed him, his annoyance slipping into anger. “After the first feeding. And we have adjusted accordingly.”

“It’s not enough,” Magnus replied and Rolland balled his fist up. “They’re still far too ill and for too long after.”

“So tell me, Magnus,” Rolland said. “Why do I care how my food feels well after I have eaten it?”

The members of the Commorisco club were all seated in their places at the meeting table. The decanter of wine had made its rounds and was near empty next to Egan who was draining the last drops from his goblet and eyeing the remainder. Beside him Lyrna was nursing her own cup, eyes distant and unfocused.

“That’s not the point I am trying to make,” Magnus replied, waving Rolland’s words off like a buzzing gnat. “We already knew these creatures were fragile. However, I am starting to sense something about our plans that may go awry. If we are not mindful of their delicate spirits, they may die. Far earlier than we could replace them.”

Rolland saw the looks on the others’ faces and saw concern. He growled, angry at their weakness, and drank heavily form his goblet till it was empty.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Rolland demanded of Magnus. “Of course I mean to break their spirits. That is what I do. They will submit as it is their place. If I demand this from my subordinates, why would I not demand it of my food?”

Rolland did not know if it was Magnus’s insistence that irked him more or if it was simply his face. Magnus was intelligent and ruthless in his other dealings, so why show such unnecessary compassion to these small, insignificant creatures. Their worth was their taste and as far as Rolland was concerned, it stopped there.

“If you play too roughly with your toys, Rolland,” Magnus said to him in a firm warning. “You are going to break them. Your little human, Valarie. She’s cracking already after only having to endure two feedings from you. She doesn’t sleep. She’s not eating. Kept up for a little while longer and you’ll no long have a human at all to keep your belly company.”

Rolland glowered at his friend. “Do not presume to tell me how to arrange and manage my human, Magnus. I don’t care that you coddle and spoil your own as you do, but I hold no such desires for mine.”

“It’s poor investment, Rolland. You must take into consideration these mechanisms that we did not foresee when we set this plan into motion. If we do not adapt, all that work and waiting will be lost and this little experiment of ours will be in ruined. And Archeon,” he said, turning his attention to the taller Demon sitting near the window. “You’re little Danny is showing cracks as well.”

Archeon just grinned, unconcerned and smug. “Then you haven’t been paying attention, Magnus. That tasty little ball of spite’s too stubborn to break. Which is why I like him. That and he wiggles going down.”

“I don’t want to hurt my little Michael,” Lyra pouted, seeming genuinely distressed at the idea. “He’s just so adorable and delicious. I did drain him maybe a little too much. I’m sure I could have done with less. I’ll try you suggestion, Magnus.”

“Magnus may have a point, Rolland,” Egan said, surprising both Rolland and Magnus as Egan and Magnus rarely agreed on anything. “They’ve got a spirit to ‘em. But they’re still only human. They’re gonna break under the pressure if we’re not careful. We can’t be going on treatin’ ‘em like reusable ghouls.”

“I’m not suggesting anything drastic,” Magnus told them all. “For the next few times you feed, see how little you can take and if it wasn’t enough, substitute a ghoul or two until you know where the line is drawn.”

Rolland stood up, angry now. “The humans are here so we do not have to survive off such vermin. After all that time and money, you tell me you want us to go back to eating floor scum? There is a larder filled with humans just beyond that wall. A literal treasure trove of culinary delight. Do what you wish with your humans, my friends. But you’re all fools.”

As Rolland swept though the door, Archeon called after him. “Where are you going?”

“All of a sudden,” he said, eyes narrow and glowing. “I’m feeling awfully peckish.”

.................................................

Author’s notes: Now, if you actually made it though this chapter, I bet you’re thinking “Why the hell did you do that cringy thing and put music into your story like that?” Well, because it was important to the story and to the character growth of both Danny and Valarie. I tried to make it feel organic and not feel like I just shoved it in. I’ll let you ll tell me if I succeeded or not.

#NDCC #teasing pred #male pred #human prey #intimidation #depression #demon pred #vore story #non vore chapter #sorry #next one though

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commorsicoclub · 4 years

Text

The Commorisco Club (5)

Chapter Five: Magnus

She tried to remember the words to the song she last heard on the radio before demonic forces pulled her into the Netherworld. The melody came easy enough, but she could not remember the words to it all and merely ended up repeating the chorus over and over.

Much like Danny was returned to the room by his devourer, Mickael was returned a little while later by the Demoness, Lyra. She had him wrapped in a swathe of purple brocade and though the human was clearly unconscious, she was murmuring sweet nothings to him, one hand petting the boy’s head.

“Such a yummy treat,” she said quietly to him, nuzzling him affectionately. “You did so well. Mmmmm. Sleep now, my sweet boy. You deserve it.”

Michael was laid down, still wrapped in the ornate fabric, and Lyra took her leave. Not but a few moments later, Egan walked into the room and curled up in his hands lay the prone form of James, still damp from the demon’s saliva and stomach juices. Egan crouched down to the nearest cushion and deposited his spent meal down into the plush surface before wordlessly leaving. So when the door opened again roughly a half hour later, she was sure Rolland was back with Valarie and did not bother rolling over to confirm. She continued to stare at the wall facing away from the entrance, still trying to remember the lyrics to the song.

“Well, well, well, it does seem that I’m late for my dinner.”

Every neuron in her body fired at once as a seeping dread sent tingles down her spine. Trembling instantly, Erin slowly pulled her arms close to her body and bite her lip to try and keep her teeth from chattering. She could hear the steady taping of his shoes and he took slow easy steps around the other sleeping forms until the sound stopped. She could sense him behind her. Above her. Though her mind was rapid firing warnings and screaming at her to run, hide, do something, she remained still. As still as a frightened rabbit. She would do as Rolland said and just allow it all to happen. He would eat her regardless of her feelings, so she did her best to remove feelings from it.

A sense of a great something shifted above her and there was a sudden pressure at her back, fingers. They pressed down into the cushion beneath her and Erin involuntarily rolled back and into his waiting hands. Despite herself, she cried out in alarm and made to grab at the fingers for stability. One hand cradled her back and the other curled around her legs. She felt the brush of warm air as he huff an amused laugh.

“Hello, my Pet,” he purred. His dull purple eyes lit into glowing violet and they drank in her image. His hands were warm, hot even, and it made her skin prickle. She began to squirm as she was want to do, but stopped herself. She looked away from his glowing eyes that were full of desire and want.

“You look tired,” he mused softly, slowly standing and bringing her closer to his chest.

She kept her gaze turned from him and tried to concentrate on keeping her hands from trembling. “R-Rolland says...that I’m well enough...for feeding...”

He hummed, amused. “Hm. Does he now?”

“And he told me not to struggle,” she said, everything in her tensing. “Or fight you...because you’re late for the meeting and he isn’t happy...”

“Heh, well Rolland is rarely ‘happy’. But that is awfully considerate of you to oblige my tight schedule.”

Her efforts to maintain an air of placidity broke and she began to cry. “Please….please just get it over with. I’m so tired of all this waiting. Everyone else was already eaten and I had to sit there watch all of it. And I...I just want to sleep and for this not to be real for a little while. Please. I won’t struggle. I’ll...try not to. I’ll be good.”

There was a very long pause and she began to dread that she may have angered him. Then his voice fell over her, low and smooth. Gentle. “Very well, Pet.”

She felt the heat of him first and then the dark of his mouth encompassed her. With a slow, deliberate ease, he slipped her onto his tongue and took the first half of her into him. His tongue stretched out under her to form a broad place for her to lay, its thick sides curling up around her shoulders, and she felt a familiar heat seep into her clothes as the pooling saliva began to soak them. She wondered idly if she was really that tasty. She felt his lips close in around her thighs, gently undulating as his jaws moved back and forth rhythmically and he began his real tasting of his somewhat willing meal. From the back of his throat, a gust of warm air blew up and out his nose. A sigh of delight followed by the vibrations of pleased hums. He seemed to enjoying her very much. But the sound of his enjoyment of her, the way he salivated heavily and the eager attentions of his tongue broke her resolve and it dissolved into the pools of saliva around her. Her best efforts were not enough and she shook with emotion and fear. It was dark and hot and wet and she hated everything about what was happening and she wanted out. She wanted out now.

“No. No, please. Let me out!” she cried, reaching up with her hands to slap the hard palate above her. “I can’t, I can’t do this again! Please, let me go. Please!”

He hummed around her, not stopping the undulations of his jaw or tongue. His fingers were at her calves, holding them firmly, but no hurting her. They began to rub them lightly as those he meant to soothe her, but all it managed to do was remind her of her first visit to his belly. He let her squirm and cry and plead as though waiting for her to lose the spark of defiance. When she did finally stop and melt into a blubbering pool of tears, he ushered her in further with a pull of his tongue. Several things happened in quick succession. She felt the top of her head hit the back of his throat and sensed the gullet below open to receive her. She made a jerky movement as though to start up her struggled again, but the muscles gripped and she sank into him as he took a hard swallow. She fell deeper into him than she had the first time he had done this and the extreme way in which he was getting her down set her into panic mode. Her hands were free this time and she made use of them by pushing against the flesh of his esophagus, but they slipped and there was nothing for her to gain any purchase. Her back half rested in his mouth and though she sensed his wanting to continuing on with his tasting of her, his decision to get her down quickly took precedent. He swallowed again, softer this time since he had a firm grip on her and she was not going anywhere but down. One more gentle gulp and she fell, slipping through the Demon, passed his lungs and heart. In short order, she slide smoothly into his belly. A sudden welcomed weight in his middle.

She bristled against the cloying pressure of the supple flesh, moving as though to get away from the feeling, but there was no where to go. Her worst fears were made real. She was in a demon’s belly again. Swallowed up like nothing. Everything that mattered about her, every effort she ever made in her life, her triumphs and failures, and every significant moment of her short years...no longer meant anything. She was not a person anymore. She was food. And no matter what she did from now on it would not matter. Because time and time again, he would come and he would swallow her. He would keep her in the center of himself and take what wasn’t his and discard her until she was useful again.

Through the stomach walls and layers of flesh beyond, Erin thought she could hear him saying something to her, but her mind was far too broken to care. There was a pressure against her and she was vaguely aware of his hand rubbing at her form. All sensation became muted and she closed her eyes and for a moment when she was her most vulnerable...she wished he would just digest her. For real. Kill her. Have it all end.

Because she could never live like this…

The first pulse brought her back to awareness. Her strength was leached from her as his stomach set to work and pulled what it wanted from her. Another pulse and she felt her own stomach flip flop with unease. The sensation of being drained was alarming and unpleasant and with a third and final pulse, she met with the dark abyss of sleep and in she fell.

……………………………………………..

Voices were the firs thing to breach the fog. Far off mumbling and conversation. A laugh. She felt something over her shoulders, soft and welcoming and in her mind’s eye she was wrapped in her favorite comforter in her room at home, and listening to the rain tap against the window. There was a securing pressure against her back and below her and then she thought perhaps she had fallen asleep on the couch. But no, that wasn’t right. She wasn’t at home anymore…

Her eyes opened and half of her vision was blocked by plush white fabric, intricate designs were embroidered through it and all of her was wrapped in it. She felt warm and was surprised that she didn’t have a headache. She didn’t feel all that terrible either. Just...very tired. Tired in the same way after she would go on a run to try and cure her insomnia. She blinked, trying to focus in on the images beyond the field of fabric and with slow recognition, she saw Archeon. He was standing behind a chair, drinking from a goblet. He was laughing. The person in the chair...she saw the white suit and his name popped into her head. Rolland. He had been the one who had eaten Valarie. She was crying when she went down. He hadn’t cared. He looked awfully content now, sipping out of a goblet of his own. Another voice spoke then, feminine and cheerful. Archeon said something back, but their words drifted unintelligible above her head.

She was so tired…

A hands drew in from above her and gripped the edge of the fabric and pulled it over her and the sight of the gathered demons vanished. There came a light pressure against her back and a gentle voice whispered to her, “Sleep now, Pet. All is well. Shhh. Just sleep.”

She closed her eyes and wordlessly obeyed.

…………………………………………………………………….

She awoke to the ticking of a clock and it did not take her long to understand she was not in the velvet room. The thing under her was not covered in velvet and was actually quite lumpy and what was more, she was wrapped in delicately embroidered cotton. But of everything else, she was most confused as to why she did not feel as terrible as the first time she had woken up after spending the night in a demon’s stomach.

She slowly pushed herself up and her arms only wobbled a little. She labored to pushed the bulk of the fabric away from her head and took the first survey of her surroundings. It was much larger than the velvet room and as she took in the sight of it all she almost laughed at the absurdity of what she was seeing. The room looked like the Victorian era ate too many Halloween decorations and threw up. The walls were covered in dark wallpaper and there was an ornate fireplace to one side, the grate looking like the gruesome fangs of a terrible creature, and within the fire glowed...green? The fire was green. A large window encompassed the farthest wall, but the dark curtains were drawn closed, though slips of light could be seen through the gaps. The fire was the main source of light and while bright enough to see, the room was cast in an ominous haze of black and green.

She carefully untangled her feet from the fabric and slowly stood up, her back cracking. She was studying the corners of the room when a velvety voice from behind her spoke up. “Good morning, Pet.”

She whirled around, but her feet were caught in the many folds of her blanket and she slipped. She landed hard on her back with her head smacking painfully against the floor. She saw stars and curled into herself, wrapping her arms around the offending goose egg that was sure to be there tomorrow. Something grazed her arm and she opened her eye to see a large hand reaching out from the dark. She cried out and began to scramble away, fervently kicking at the fabric to try and free herself as well as the hand. And the long and wicked looking clawed nails.

“You’re not winning yourself any pity points here, human,” the demon said, almost laughing, cupping his hand and moving it to block her path and gather her up all in once fluid motion. She tensed and waited for those fingers to pull in and grab her up. Maybe dangle her over his face and taunt her with his teeth in the same way Archeon had to Danny. But he held her there, still and unmoving. She felt the fabric at her feet pull away and then his other hand moving to meet the other and he held her loosely between his cupped hands. Erin sat there, quivering with her heart in her throat and then the demon spoke again. “Now, I am going to remove my hands and you are going to stay where you are. If you start flailing around again, I will grab you and we will try again. Understand?”

She waited for a few moments, biting her lips anxiously, and then nodded.

“Good,” he purred, sounding pleased. And true to his word, he slowly eased back his hands and Erin was left exposed. She slowly turned her head, almost too afraid to look at him, but when she saw the glowing purple eyes, she was no long there in that room. She was tied up and laying on a plate, waiting for a monster to come for her and slip her passed his teeth and tongue and for all sound to disappear behind a deafening GULP.

And then there was light and she was blinded, the suddenness of it startling her from her abject terror. She rubbed the dancing spots from her eyes and heard the demon chuckle.

“If you are so afraid of the dark, Pet,” he said teasingly. “You only need ask for a light.”

Her vision cleared and looking up, the room no longer appeared as though every corner hide a secret danger. The wallpaper was a strange periwinkle like color and the mantle that had, in the dark, formerly looked like the gaping jaws of a large animal, was quite normal if not overly ornate and carved from a deep rich mahogany wood that was polished to a brilliant sheen. A gold clock sat in the center of it and was the source of the insistent ticking. The fire was still green, though.

And for the first time, she truly saw her demon as he was, instead of glimpses from the shadows.

He wasn’t the tallest of the demons, maybe just a tad bit shy of Archeon’s height, but he was lean and broad shouldered. Or at least, his clothing gave him that silhouette. His face was almost boyish with his shaggy black hair, but there was something in his face that aged him without it imprinting on looks. A sharp intelligence behind his eyes that was more intimidating than the curling horns on his head or his height or claws. Or appetite.

The orb of light left his hand and floated up to hover above them, buoyant in a nonexistent tide, and it was then that she understood where she was sitting. She was on a desk in the corner of the room. To one end of the desk was an ink pot and a quill sitting in it’s stand. The Demon sat before her in his chair and she could make out the tall wooden back that rose beyond his shoulders. He reached out towards her again, she gasped, shutting her eyes tightly and mewling in fear. She waited for something to happen, but instead, there was the rustling of fabric and the squeal of a chair being pushed back. When she worked up the courage to look, the demon was standing, haven retrieved a folded coat from atop the desk. That was the lumyp thing she had been sleeping on, she realized dimly. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, the edge of his mouth switching in a small smirk.

“Such a skittish little thing,” he said indulgently and shook his head. He spent a moment flinging out the coat before refolding draping it over the back of his chair. Once he had finished his small task, he pushed in the chair and walked further into the room towards one of the walls where there was a floor to ceiling build in bookcase. The shelves upon which every available slot was filled with a book or tomes or scroll of unknowing origin. He scanned the books on the shelf for several moments, running a clawed finger nail along their spines in search of something. Erin looked back at the chair. He had pushed it in, but she bet that it wasn’t to far down for her to climb onto the seat and then on the floor and then...to somewhere. She had expected to wake up in the velvet room, not his personal office. Something felt off and she wanted no part in any of it. If she could make it back to the velvet room before he noticed…

“Uh-uh-uh, human,” the demon said, one finger pointed at her accusingly and the other still scanning the books. He was not even looking at her. She bristled at being caught, even though she had only just got onto her hands and feet and barely had she even moved. “Stay right there.’

He turned his head just enough to pin her with one glowing eye. “If I have to go chasing you about, I may have to consider a second helping.”

She quickly sat down and put her hands on her lap, shaking her head fervently in response.

“Good girl.” She gulped nervously, waiting for him to find whatever it was he was searching for. After several minutes, he cursed and scowled. “Damn you, Rolland. You never return anything you borrow.”

With a frustrated sigh he ran a hand through his hair and turned back to the desk. As he approached, she opened her mouth and in a small, nervous voice asked, “Please, sir...I...why am I here? Why aren’t I back with the others in the velvet room?”

“The velvet room?” he asked, a single brow raised in confusion as he sat back into his chair. And then he laughed as understanding struck him. “Oh. Ha! The velvet room? You mean the larder.”

She frowned and furrowed her brow, a sinking feeling in her belly. “...the larder? T-that’s...that’s what you call it?”

“Well,” he admitted, setting his head in his hands and regarding her with a toothy smile, eye glowing in wicked delight. “That is where the food is kept.”

She shrank away, the hunger in his eyes sending her nerves sparking with unease. “Is...is that why it looks like a stomach?”

“More or less, yes,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Archeon’s little joke. He’s very proud of it.”

Erin did not find it funny in the least and the morbid idea that their place of respite from their demonic bellies was inside a room designed to look like the inside of a stomach. She found herself feeling angry at how easily they tossed about jokes involving their very real terror. How little they mattered.

“It’s sick.”

“Oh? How so? Granted, I didn’t think it was the most creative thing to have thought of, but his execution must be commended. Why? Does it upset you? Hit a little too close to the mark?”

She sniffed miserably and crossed her arms over her middle. “Yes.”

“Regardless of the shape, it is still what is it,” he said. “It won’t change the reality of why you all are here.”

She snorted humorlessly. “You guys are really good at making sure we’re well aware of why we’re here. Rolland made a speech and everything. Right before he ate my friend as she cried and begged him to stop.”

She stared at the desk’s surface for a long time, the horrible memory of poor Valarie sobbing and her please for mercy as she disappeared between Rolland’s lips. She nearly jumped out of her skin when something brushed her back and before she could see what what happening, his fingers were wrapped around her middle. With Valarie’s cries still echoing in her head, she started thrashing. “Please,” she begged as her feet left the desk and her eyes were shut tight. “Please don’t...”

His hands came together and he rose from the desk. “Child, you’re going to give yourself an apoplexy at this rate.”

“Please don’t! Please, put me down!”

She felt him move, walking away from the desk and her mind began to conjure all sorts of horrific things he was going to do to her. “Please...” She felt the tears dribble down her chin and she couldn’t hear what he was saying anymore. She couldn’t hear anything beyond the panicked fluttering of her own heart. Something brushed up against the back of her knees and she jerked her feet away only to have the demon set her down. She opened her eyes more out of worry than curiosity and as his hands pulled away, she was left sitting on the mantel. She could feel the warmth of the fire below her feet.

She looked around bewildered and then looked to the demon, questioning.

“Unless you’ve somehow forgotten,” he said with a light laugh, leaning in just a bit to whisper in a teasing tone, “I’ve already had you for my dinner, Pet. And though a second helping sounds delightful, I’m far more interested sampling your thoughts than your taste right now.”

“My thoughts?” she asked warily. “About...about what?”

“Anything really. A conversation with a living human? It’s never been done and if it ever has, it was a short one of not much interest. It’s quite challenging to hold a conversation if your partner is abjectly terrified of you. So boring.”

“So...that’s why you brought me here?” she asked, not quite understanding his meaning. “To just...talk?”

He nodded. “That’s right.”

“...about what?”

“Well, before we get into specific subjects, let me introduce myself properly,” He said as he reached out to pluck her left hand from her side and deftly held he between two fingers. Unsure of his intentions or what he was doing, Erin stiffened and waited. But to her surprise, he gave her a small bow, his horned head dipping down with the movement. “My name is Magnus,” he said and then straightened. “At your service.”

She stared at him for a moment, unsure how to feel about him bowing to her. But in the spirit of equal exchange, she gave a small awkward bow back and said, “My name is Erin.”

His smile seemed genuine enough. “Tell me, Erin; When you woke up, how did you feel? When compared to the first time, I mean. Post feeding.”

“Not as bad. Just really sleepy and...and hungry. The first time was awful.”

“Yes,” Magnis admitted sheepishly. “In hindsight, we should have taken...certain things into consideration. We were a little too enthusiastic. This time, however, I wanted to know where the lines are. How much of you to drain. To find the line where I get what I need from you, but you do not spend the next two days too poorly to even move. So I took much less this time.”

“Oh. So, was...was it enough?” she asked. It would be nice to know that she could wake up and not feel as though she had been binge drinking. “To..like, make you...full?”

“No, not hardly,” he said with a heavy sigh of disappointment and the quickly put his hands up when he saw her face, “But before your little brain starts sending out those panic signals, know that I anticipated this. I made sure to eat before coming to you. Hence why I was so late. Ghouls are plentiful, but they can be tricky to catch and not nearly so appetizing as you humans.”

The morbid part of her mind reared up and she asked, “We really taste that good to you guys?”

Magnus placed his elbow on the mantel and regarded her with a lazy smile, purple eyes flashing for a moment. “Enough to wait 78 years and spend 400,000 gilders each just for the chance to sample one of you.”

“How much is that?”

“A very substantial amount,” Magnus replied and licked his lips. “And you were worth every bit.”

She frowned as she eyed him, leaning away and he laughed at her. “You’re far too easy to tease,” he said and patted his stomach. “Don’t fret so much, I am perfectly content. You’re safe from my belly for now, Erin.”

Though he meant it as a tease, Erin felt the weight of the words and could help but shrinking down a bit. Another reminder that she and every other human there were just food.

“You have such sad eyes,” Magnus said abruptly, his voice low. A single clawed digit held her chin when she would have turned away from him. Her dark hazel eyes were studied by his large dull purple ones. “I’ve never seen eyes like yours.”

“...my eyes?”

“Two different colors...”

“Actually its very common in humans,” she said. “And it’s hard to be happy knowing you’re always gonna be someone’s dinner regardless of your feelings.”

“Why does that upset you so? Even knowing you will be perfectly fine later.”

“Because it means I’m not a person anymore. Just... just your food.”

He tilted his head and crossed his arms, a small pitying smile on his lips. “And just who’s to say that you can’t you be both?”

She blinked at him, and furrowed her brows in confusion. Was he mocking her? “What?” she asked him. “Both?”

“Yes. Why can you not be both a person and food? I wasn’t aware they were mutually exclusive.”

She gaped incredulously at him, the notion that he may just be an idiot entered her mind. “Because food...food doesn’t have feelings or rights or protections!”

He seemed to consider this for a moment and said, “Well, on the matter of rights, that is true. You’re regulated to whatever we allow, but the other two in my experience thus far seem to still hold true.”

She glowered at him.“… are you’re just trying to confuse me?”

He regarded her with a patient and indulgent smile. “No, little one, I am trying to expand your mind and allow you the chance to think beyond what nature has programmed into your prey minded intuitions. Because no matter how many times I may tell you that I will not harm you, your prey-drive kicks in and you panic when you are in my mouth. Thinking that you are going to die despite all the empirical evidence that says otherwise.” He smirked “And the way you’ve been flailing about today and weeping like an injured Impling, I can attest to the truth that you do in fact have feelings. Too many for your own well being, if I am honest. And as for protection. Well, how many other foods can you name that survive their own ingestion?”

She opened her mouth to reply, but he spoke over her to add, “...and your friends do not count.”

She didn’t have an answer, but he seemed to expect one or at least for her to respond. So meekly, she admitted, “None.”

“None!” He said in triumph. “Do you understand my point yet?”

She shrunk down a bit into herself, nervous to admit she was having trouble following him. Magnus sighed in resignation and walked closer to her spot on the mantel, cupping both hands around her. His face was very close to her now and she was very aware at how easily he could take his ‘second helping’. “Erin, you are still you. Even we here do not have so great a power as to strip that from you. Humans are rare and priceless and so much attention and energy and notice is spent solely upon your taste and value as a delicacy. The rarest to be had. A status symbol for those lucky few able to afford such a meal.”

His words made her feel ill and she turned her back to him and ducked into the shadow of his hands as though to hide herself inside. He continued to talk to her. “And we here are luckier still that we are able to enjoy that exquisite flavor over and over without further investment of time or funds. So, beyond all that, I want to know what else there is. Beyond humans as mere morsels to salivate over. You have an intelligence and consciousness about which I am deeply curious.” He used the meaty side of his finger to tap her on the head. “What is going on in that little head there?”

And then he stuck out his tongue and licked her.

She squealed, freezing up completely and shuddered as the hot and slimy muscle climbed her back and shoulders in a quick swipe. She arched away from him and whined in equal parts alarm and disgust and when she turned to him, red faced and quivering, she was met with a very smug and impish grin. He was far too pleased with himself and chuckled at her flustered response. “The extra tastings are just a bonus.”

She stared at him, her insides twisting with so many different emotions and they battled it out on her face as she tried to decide if she was scared or disgusted or offended or…

He laughed as he stepped away from the mantel, one eye closing in a cheeky wink. “See? Did I not say you have too many feelings for your own well being?”

Her face felt hot and in that moment, she decided she really wanted to be mad. “DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!”

His lips pulled back into that smug grin, violet eyes glowing. “I try not to make promises that I have no intention of keeping.”

“YOU ARE SO GROSS!”

He hummed, licking his lips and in his velvety voice said, “And you are so very tasty.”

“Augh!” She cried, worming around in her own shirt, the damp saliva clinging to her back and her shoulders. She could feel a drop of it rolling down and it made her quiver in disgust. “Gross, gross, gross. Oh god, I feel so gross...”

The demon seemed to take pity on her and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, rolling his eyes.

“Here, you whiny little thing,” he said and began to wipe his drool from her back and shoulders. “If you react so fiercely to a small tasting like that, it’s probably very lucky you’re unconscious when I bring you back up after feeding. There is much more...wet.”

“You’re gross!” she barked at him.

#NDCC #soft vore #scared prey #gentle pred #demon pred #male pred #extra licks #teasing #human prey #female prey #endosoma #mouthplay #fearplay

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