Judy fiddled with the key to her apartment building’s outermost door as the wind and rain pelted her.
“20% chance of showers my soaking wet fanny,” she muttered.
Her umbrella threatened to pop inside out three times before she finally got the key to work and pushed into the narrow little foyer that led up to her room. She turned to shut the door behind her and paused. Something colorful caught her eye. It was bright and gay, even in this dreary rain. She blinked the rain from her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. A little dragon, maybe the size of a St. Bernard, was tottering down the street. It was green and pink, like something from children’s television, and had a sour expression on its painfully sweet little face. It splashed along on all fours, dripping wet and huddled to prevent the rain from soaking a little backpack that it had strapped to its chest like a harness.
Judy paused in the doorway and watched, curious what the little cutie was up to. Even a few years ago, things like that were completely unheard of. Dragons were the stuff of storybooks, after all. But the revelations about “overlaps” and the corresponding knowledge of other worlds had meant that virtually any supernatural creature (within reason) had a chance of showing up. This was just the first one Judy had seen outside of special shows and performances.
She watched as dragon peered up with blinking, water-logged eyes and spotted a door number, then craned its long neck and bopped the doorbell. The door opened a buff and rugged guy she knew from the neighborhood answered. He looked down at the dragon, and instantly was angry about something. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but voices were raised as he and the dragon had an animated disagreement. He pulled his phone out and she adopted a more pleading posture and tone, but he jabbed the screen and slammed the door. The dragon shouted a very rude word for such a cute little thing and started to trudge back from whence she came.
Judy threw the door open and marched out into the street. She didn’t know quite what had just happened but clearly this poor dragon had been denied entrance to the man’s home for whatever reason and now was left with no option but to walk in the rain. That was utterly unacceptable to Judy. She was cursed with a tremendous amount of empathy and the thought of the cute little dragon sadly pacing through the cold rain was almost physically painful to her.
“Hey! Hello!” she shouted, hurrying after the dragon with her umbrella at the ready.
She reached the little thing and crouched in front of her, carefully angling the umbrella to shelter at least the little thing’s head. It looked back at her with gorgeous and thoroughly confused pink eyes.
“You’re absolutely soaked!” she said. “What happened back there?”
“Oh, um. It was nothing. Occupational hazard.”
Her voice wasn’t quite a match for her appearance. Rather than the bubbly, jovial tones of a mascot, this dragon had a sullen and surprisingly deep voice.
“He left you out in the rain!”
“He canceled my Snack. Happens all the time. Getting stuck in the rain is my own fault. I trusted the forecast. Should have brought my raincoat. I’ll just hurry home.”
Judy managed to avoid squealing at the mental image of this cute little creature wearing a raincoat.
“How far do you have to go?” she asked.
“Fifteen blocks.”
Judy raised her eyebrows. “No! Absolutely not, I won’t hear it. You’ll catch your death of cold in weather like this. Come on. My apartment is right this way. You can come in, dry off, and figure out a better way to get home.”
The dragon looked ready to protest, but an involuntary tremble shook it from nose to tail. 
“… You’re sure?” the beast said.
“I insist!”
She stooped beside the dragon and led her to the door. The colorful creature trotted into the dim foyer and stood aside as Judy closed her umbrella and the door.
“I’m right up here. Right up the stairs,” Judy said. “My name is Judy, by the way. What’s yours?”
“Vivvie,” the dragon said.
“That’s so pretty,” Judy said earnestly. “You’re not from around here, right?”
“… No,” Vivvie said flatly.
“Right, duh. Obviously. But do you live around here?”
“Yeah. That’s where I was headed, since the Snack got canceled.”
They came to the door to Judy’s apartment. This key worked much better. She got the door open. Vivvie tapped into the entrance of a terribly small loft apartment. She politely stood aside, trying to keep herself to the black rubber mat that was clearly intended for wet shoes.
“Stay right there. I’ll get you a towel,” Judy said.
She jogged to the linen closet beside the door to the only private room in the entire apartment, the bathroom. She tugged out an old beach towel and brought it over.
“That’s very nice of you, but I don’t really have the anatomy and range of motion to really make use of a towel, so I’ll just—”
“Let me!” Judy said, unfurling the towel and draping it over all but the dragon’s head.
She crouched beside the beast and vigorously rubbed at the towel, gliding it up and down over Vivvie’s scales to soak up the consequences of the downpour.
“Always happy to lend a hand. Since you’re not around here, it probably can feel a little lonely out there. I like to let people know there are always friends if you know where to look for them.”
Vivvie tipped her head to the side and looked at Judy with a guarded expression.
“You’re… a lot more forward than most humans I’ve met.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot. Usually right after I hug someone who wasn’t expecting a hug. In college they used to call be Glomp. I guess I’m just a lot more… I don’t know, tactile than people are used to.”
She paused.
“Omigosh! I didn’t make you uncomfortable, did I?” she shut her eyes and thumped herself theatrically on the side of the head. “Personal space, personal space. Remember personal space.”
“It is fine. I appreciate the hospitality,” Vivvie said.
Judy sighed in relief and pulled the towel away. The shiny scales shrugged off the moisture well, and now in the warm light of her apartment, she could admire what little fluorescent jewels they were. Such vivid green and pink. And so much softer than she would have imagined.
“Feel better?” she asked, giving a final wipe to the dragon’s snout.
She was rewarded with a cute little *SQUONKA* noise, like that of a dog’s chew toy. Judy politely pretended she didn’t hear it, but made a mental note to squee about it later.
“So what happened back there?” she asked.
“Oh, the guy was disappointed with his designated Pred and pulled the plug.”
“Designated Pred?”
“Yeah. I do VORE APP. It’s pretty much the only line of work for someone like me.”
“Uh huh, and what’s VORE APP?” Judy asked, tossing the towel in the hamper beside the door.
Vivvie scratched the back of her head with a forepaw. “I guess I sort of assumed everyone at least knew about it. It’s an app. See, some humans like vore. Creatures like me can make their dreams come true. So there’s a gig-economy app to pair up preds with prey. But apparently people can’t be bothered to read the whole profile. They see ‘dragon’ and see the price I charge and think ‘what a bargain!’ and then I show up and they were expecting Draco or Drogan or whatever the big scary pop culture beastie is these days. They see me, they get disappointed, and then they end the job before it starts and I get another ding on my account. As bad as it is, VORE APP is still a good job for dragons who want to make a living here.”
“VORE APP, huh?” Judy said, tugging out her phone.
She brought up the app store and found the app in question. The logo was a heart getting swallowed by a stylized wolf head. Out of curiosity she tapped download. While she was waiting for it to install, she flopped onto her couch.
“Come sit down. Get comfortable. I guess you’ll probably want to find a ride back to your place?” Judy said.
Vivvie padded over and flopped onto her haunches on the floor in front of the couch.
“Yeah, probably not. It’s really hard to find people who will give me a ride. Quadruped and all. ‘No Pet’ rules usually apply. One way or another I’m either walking or flying home.”
“Aw… well, the rain shouldn’t last more than another hour or so. You’re welcome to stay.” She patted the couch. “Have a seat.”
“On the couch?”
“Yeah, silly!”
“Thanks. That’s another ‘no pets’ thing I’ve noticed people tend to enforce.”
Vivvie delicately climbed onto the couch. Though she was hardly a large beast, it was a very small couch. Even curled up carefully, she was practically in Judy’s lap. The dragon reached up and pinched the tab of the zipper for the Hello Kitty “frontpack” she wore and pulled out rugged little smartphone.
“Damn it!” she snapped, almost immediately. “He gave me one star. Now I’m going to have to try to get that removed… You aren’t supposed to give a star rating if you cancel a Snack, but the dumb app lets you do it if you leave the star before you cancel… This is like the fifth person this week who canceled. This is going to eat into my budget…”
“Aww… That sucks. I do internet fitness classes and people do the same thing. It’s tough when there’s no product they have to return if they cancel the charges.”
Judy’s mind circled around a bit. She grinned as an idea occurred to her. She opened the app and started setting up an account, careful to keep the phone angled away from her guest.
“So… uh… What usually happens when you do one of these gigs?”
“Some variation of the same few things. They get off on the idea of getting eaten. Most of them, anyway. Some of them it’s less of a sexual thing and more of an ‘intense cuddles’ thing, like they crave something warmer and closer than a hug. Like it or not, it’s pretty hard to separate dragons from eating people. We’re right at the top of people’s minds when they think about things that eat humans. So usually there’s some roleplay. I pretend to hunt them, if that’s what they’re into. Sometimes they have this whole scene in mind. Like, with lines for me to say. ‘Moohaha, my delicious little morsel…’ That sort of thing. It feels silly, but the customer is always right. Then, one way or another, down the hatch for a while, then depending on if they checked the full-tour box or not, they’re out one side or the other and I get my fee. Ideally with a tip.”
“Oh, I see. Interesting. It’s always fun learning the little quirky things people are into,” Judy said.
It all sounded harmless enough. Lonely people who like to play little naughty games. They bring in a literal fantasy creature to help them roleplay their fantasies. Pretend to hunt them. Pretend to eat them. She didn’t see the allure personally, but there was nothing wrong with playing pretend.
She casually typed a few versions of Vivvie’s name, but nothing came up. Instead, she searched by species. After scrolling around to see options like Goo-Person, Sentient Python, Man-Bear, and Humanoid (Nipple Vore Capable) she rolled back to Dragon. There were only three of them on the list of locals, and one of them was unmistakably Vivvie. She had the username Candy_Dragon_UWU. Again, 
Judy suppressed a squeal.
According to the listing, Vivvie’s services were $70 an hour, with assorted add-ons like “Full Tour” and “3+”. Judy picked a standard package and added on Full-Tour for a total of $100. Money was honestly a little tight, but she could spare a hundred bucks if it would help this little creature recover from getting screwed over by a bad customer. She submitted the request. A moment later, Vivvie’s phone tweeted.
The dragon raised it and tapped the screen.
“Oh. Nice. Another job. Maybe this night won’t be a total loss.” Vivvie raised an eyebrow and fiddled with the map on-screen. “I’m sorry, what’s the address here?”
“101a Lux Lane.”
Vivvie gave her a curious look. Judy’s phone buzzed.
“Oh! Will you look at that! My ‘pred’ has arrived.” She stuck her hand out for a shake. “Pleased to meet you! I’m Judy, you must be the big scary dragon I ordered.”
“… Are you sure about this?” Vivvie said.
“Sure! I figured, you lost a gig, I didn’t have anything else to do today, and I always like trying new things!”
“This is a pretty… unique interest. You’re either into it or you aren’t.”
Judy crossed her arms. “I’m as adventurous as the next girl. Try me.”
Vivvie shrugged. “I’m not going to argue. I can certainly use the money. So… One hour, full tour. How do you want to do this?”
“Oh, I hadn’t really thought about it. It was kind of spur of the moment. What do you need to know?”
Vivvie hopped off the couch and stared up at her. “Normally I don’t have to hold someone’s hand through the process, but since you’re helping me out, I guess I can step you through it. We’ll start with the basics, head first or feet first. I’m not very well acquainted with the double fold, but you’re pretty petite, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to do butt first if you want.”
It seemed like a weird detail for what amounted to a unique bit of roleplay, but she flipped a mental coin. “Head first?” 
“Good choice. Do you want it rough or smooth? Like you’re being conquered or like you’re being enjoyed?”
“Oh, surely it’s better to be enjoyed.”
“Anything special you’re after?”
“I don’t really know what’s appropriate.”
Vivve lashed her pudgy little tail a bit and pondered. “Well, for most people who do this it’s a sex thing. Like I said, except for the cuddlers. I’m not a prostitute but what are some things that you look for when you’re getting intimate?”
“Oh, gosh… It’s been a while, you know? But I’m definitely a cuddler. I like the hugs. Good and tight. Tighter the better.”
“So the hunt, then. Constriction. I can do that. What about tasting? Yes or no? You want licks? Suckles?”
“No suckles. Maybe licks?”
“Clothes on or off?”
“We just met, Vivvie. I like you, but I don’t know if we’re quite at the ‘get naked together’ stage yet.”
“Okay, clothes on. And do you have any lines for me?”
“Oh, I don’t know… Just, improvise something?”
Vivvie rolled her eyes a little. “I’m not much of an improviser, but I guess it’ll be good practice. Are you going to struggle or no?”
“It depends on how scary you are,” Judy said, trying to get into the spirit of the silly little game.
Vivvie nodded knowingly. “That’s a yes.”
She stripped her pack and adopted a low, pounce-ready position.
“Are you ready?”
Judy giggled. “Sure!”
Vivvie wriggled her tail end a bit and waggled her head, like an actor shaking off an old personality and getting into a role. She contorted her cute, candy colored face into something that fell just short of a genuinly concerning predatory glare.
“I’ve got you now, morsel,” she said, her voice low and sinister.
She slinked forward weaving a tight loop around Judy and eliciting a giggle from the human. It was like a big cat rubbing on her, smooth scales dimpling against her legs in a gloriously smooth texture. Just as she curled around the other side she curved the tip of her tail around Judy’s ankles. Thus anchored she started to physically curl around the woman. Her body stretched slightly and squished a bit, wrapping around Judy in a way that such a squat, pudgy body shouldn’t be able to. She managed two full revolutions, warping fully half of Judy’s body in tight, smooth, supple flesh before she pounced with her upper body, wrapping her forelegs around Judy to squeeze her tight.
Judy wobbled and collapsed on the couch, producing another little “squeaky toy” honk from her delightful guest. Vivvie’s strength was as surprising as her flexibility, easily immobilizing Judy’s arms as her cute face loomed over her.
“Look at you…” Vivvie purred, in character. “So small and frightened. The perfect meal.”
Judy felt a little silly playing this “hunter and hunted” game, but Vivvie was very good at giving hugs. It had been ages since she’d been held so tight and close. She wanted to shut her eyes and just bask in it, but she imagined she was probably supposed to play a part in this.
“Oh, no! Please Missus Big Scary Dragon,” she said woefully. “Roast me with your fiery breath and gobble me up.”
Vivvie blinked, her character dropping for a moment. “Right, fiery breath. Just a moment.”
The dragon shut her eyes and Judy felt a rumble in the gut that was curled around her. Vivvie opened her mouth wide, directly before her eyes. She rattled a throaty belch that produced a hazy cloud of smoke. It ruffled Judy’s hair and filled the room with the scent of caramel.
“Whoa,” Judy said softly.
“It’s the best I can do,” Vivvie said. “Before we get back into it, do you want to do mostly the hunt or just skip to the main course.”
“Uh… Whatever you like, I guess.”
“I’ll get you to the good part then.” She restored her character. “Let me see just what sort of meal I’ve cough for myself.”
Her tongue snaked out and she gave Judy a long, savory slurp. The tongue was warm and smooth, the slick surface not nearly as slimy as Judy had feared. It actually felt rather nice. Refreshing, even. Like a warm bath in miniature.
“Such a treat,” Vivvie licked again. “Such a feast.”
“You’re making me blush,” Judy joked.
“Fill my belly, meal,” Vivvie said.
She yawned her maw wide. Judy starred down the throat in awe.
Wow, she thought. It almost looks like she could really swallow me. Good thing this is roleplay…
The maw closed over her head, casting her in darkness and filling her nose with the lingering and tasty scent of burnt sugar. The tongue swiped across her face and neck, then curled under her chin. It lightly pressed against her skin and the head lurched down, squeezing Judy’s head into the back of her throat.
She sure can fit a lot in her mouth…
Vivvie swiveled her head a bit and gaped again, briefly letting a glimpse of light in before clamping her mouth tight, this time stretched across the woman’s shoulders. Her head was now practically wrapped in the dragon’s throat, stretching it tightly but not seeming to test its limits.
I wonder how far she’ll go. This is real commitment to the game.
A wave of muscle seemed to grab hold of her head and drew it deeper as a squirming lurch of Vivvie’s body allowed her blunt, nibbling teeth to slip to her midriff.
… She’s really eating me, Judy realized.
She tried to pull away, to pop her head out and explain that there was some sort of misunderstanding, but Vivvie simply gripped her gently but firmly and dragged herself further down the human’s body. The throat was too tight for her to make much more than a muffled moan as she was crammed into the smaller creature’s gullet.
Judy shut her eyes and tried to remain calm. This was a legal app. This must be safe. As the jaws reached her hips and her head and shoulders started to slide along the curve of the dragon’s stomach, she started to realize just how nice this really felt. At first she thought if she ignored where she was, she might enjoy it for the caressing embrace it was, but swiftly she realized she didn’t have to ignore it. The thought of sliding deeper into someone and being squeezed on all sides by them wasn’t so unpleasant a thought. It was like the next logical step of what a hug should be. She was being squeezed so hard she was ending up inside someone.
She wrapped her arms around herself, both to give herself her own little hug and to make a bit more room as the tight sack of a tummy stretched to accommodate her. Her feet twitched and rubbed against each other as they slid between the jaws and crammed inside the tummy with the rest of her.
Little tugs and squeezes of muscle curled Judy up until she was in a tight little ball in the beast’s belly.
“Finally my ancient hunger is sated…” Vivvie said theatrically, her voice a bassy thrum around Judy.
The character once again left the voice when she spoke again.
“I’m sorry, did you want rubbing while you were in there or did you want to struggle some more?”
Judy turned her head and found there was just enough slack in the pouch around her for her to speak without her face getting mashed by the soft, damp flesh. Her brain started to assemble the proper words for the moment. She would explain that she’d misunderstood what was going to happen. She would say that she’d assumed it was just a game, and that she wouldn’t actually be eaten. She would politely ask to be spit out and of course Vivvie could keep the full payment.
Instead, what she said was, “Rubbing please.”
Strong, gentle paws started to rub and caress the belly around her. It was a soothing, nurturing massage, only slightly diminished by the fact that Judy was too large a bulge for Vivvie to easily reach around, leaving a section of her back not getting any rubbing. She grinned and sighed, luxuriating in the loving attention she was getting.
Judy slipped into a dreamy reverie as the caressing continued. She felt the walls around her slipping and sliding ever so slowly, little rolling waves of muscle joining the churning, kneading paws in dancing across her skin. Her body was steadily forced through the dragon, or rather, the dragon’s body gently forced itself over Judy, as the intestines mostly just traced themselves around her.
All too soon, she felt the tightness of a nub pressing against her forehead. A heavy squeeze from around her mashed her harder against it until it started to spread. Cold air tickled her face as she was extruded into the outside world again. She flopped to the ground and uncurled herself. Her skin and clothing had a strange, glistening glaze. After involuntarily licking her lips, she discovered it was some sort of sugary syrup.
Vivvie huffed a breath and climbed to her feet, straddling the human and peering down into her face.
“You’ve got a few minutes left, and you said you wanted licking, so close your eyes. I’ve got to get that stuff off you anyway.”
She lolled the tongue from her mouth and began to lap at Judy, delicately slurping most of the slowly crystalizing stuff off the human’s body with all the clinical detachment of a nurse giving a sponge bath. After what had apparently been an hour of oddly wholesome hugging and petting, Judy found a flash of naughtier, more intimate thoughts as the broad tongue swabbed between her legs and across her chest. Even muted by her damp clothing, the strength and force were delicious.
Vivvie rolled Judy over and gave her back the same treatment.
“All done. The rest should come off with warm water,” she said.
Judy shakily stood. Her muscles were so profoundly relaxed from the extended massage she almost couldn’t stay on her feet. Vivvie helpfully steadied her with a head on one side and tail on the other, then discreetly slipped Judy her phone.
“If you approved of the Snack, please let my future meals know with a five star rating,” Vivvie said with the mechanical delivery of a script.
Judy obligingly tapped the proper rating.
“Listen, I’m going to take a shower real quick. Make yourself at home. Feel free to help yourself to a beverage, a bite to eat, maybe. Put on some TV, maybe. When I get out, we’ve got to talk.”
~~~
Jody stepped out of the bathroom in her pajamas to find Vivvie curled up on the couch, munching on a Sugar Daddy from her pack. The television was tuned to the local news.
“…downpour with no end in sight. Expect showers to increase in severity until six am tomorrow,” the weather report said.
“Wow,” Judy said.
“Yeah, I thought maybe there was something wrong with the weather app, but this rain is here to stay for a while,” Vivvie said. “I’m going to have to just get out there and brave the rain.”
“Do you have someone home waiting for you?”
“No, but the closest bus stop is like halfway home, and the Ubers usually don’t pick me up. I can’t just stay here until it clears up.”
“Sure you can!” Judy said brightly. You can stay until the morning. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Vivvie gave her an uncertain look. “Are you sure? We’re strangers.”
“You ate me and pooped me out. That makes us more than strangers to me. Which reminds me. About that?”
“I hope I did a good job. I’ve been the first pred for a lot of people and first impressions are important.”
“Right… See, I sort of didn’t realize you were actually going to eat me.”
“What? No. I thought I was pretty clear about everything. And so was the app.”
“I thought it was supposed to be roleplay. You know, fake?”
“The roleplay was all that morsel talk. So you’re not into Vore?”
“This was the first I heard of it. I was just trying to help you cover your costs.”
“… Oh dear…”
“No, no! It was very nice! I liked it, honest. I just had some questions, is all.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Um… Well, to start with, what was that goop that was left on me? That wasn’t poop, was it? Because I kind of don’t want to think about you coating me with poop and you eating it back up.”
Vivvie shook her head. “That’s sugar resin. It’s a defensive mechanism. Back home, if something wants to eat us, the only real defense we have is to try to eat them first. We can’t digest most of the predators, but anything that gets pushed through us gets a layer of sugar resin. If they don’t wash it off, after a few minutes it hardens and they’re sort of trapped in place, like a statue. Coated in a solid sugar shell. Then either they starve, they get eaten by a bigger predator, or it rains and they escape.”
“And how come I could breathe in there?”
Vivvie shrugged. “I dunno. Magic? I come from one of those ‘A wizard did it’ worlds where things just sort of work the way they do without necessarily making sense scientifically. Hence me being able to fly with these little wings.”
“Fascinating.” Judy yawned. “I wish I could stay up longer and talk all about it, but I’ve got an early workout session scheduled tomorrow and people really frown on the virtual gym instructor looking like she hasn’t slept. Are you staying?”
“Um… I’m really not looking forward to heading out there in this rain, but I sort of have my apartment set up how I need it. I’d have a hard time sleeping here.”
“Maybe I can accommodate you. What do you need?”
“I only really sleep well when I’m a little… I don’t know, cramped.”
“Hmm?”
“Squeezed. I like tight places.”
“I’ve got a weighted blanket, would that help.”
“Maybe a little, but it usually takes more than that. It just makes me feel safe to be tight and snug.”
Judy scratched her head, then smiled. This being a loft, the bed was right in the same room. She climbed into it and patted beside her.
“Come here. I want to try something.”
Vivvie took a suspicious step back. “Listen, I know a lot of people get off on getting eaten, but I’m not a prostitute, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. Just come here.”
The dragon cautiously stalked onto the bed. Judy squealed with glee and practically pounced on her, wrapping her arms tight around the beast and hugging her tight as she could. An adorable squeaky-toy sound tweeted through the room. She rolled her lithe frame on top of Vivvie, putting a little more pressure on her.
“Well?” Judy said, squeezing tighter. “How’s that feel?”
Vivvie squirmed once or twice, then huffed a breath. “It’s… nice.”
Judy nuzzled her soft scales. “Great! It’s been so long since I had a cuddle buddy for the night.”
The human released her new friend just long enough to fetch a blanket. She hopped into bed again and threw both her arms and legs around Vivvie, squeaking her into a hug and sighing sweetly.
“We’re both gonna sleep great tonight.”