"Hey, I've been thinking."
 
Dwayne looked up from his book, and put it aside as his boyfriend entered the room. Gris looked nervous, but he sat down next to Dwayne, fiddling his thumbs.
 
"I've been going over what happened with Clarence," the human began.
 
"I'm so sorry about that," Dwayne said, probably for the tenth time that week. "If I'd known he was like that, I never would've invited him to meet you."
 
"I know." Gris took his wolf's hand. "And it's not your fault what happened. I don't blame you, babe."
 
Dwayne let out a sigh of relief.
 
"I've been thinking about what happened because . . . it's something I've gone through a lot," Gris admitted. "Being compared to others, and humiliated like that. I've been experiencing it all my life.
 
"I . . ."
 
Dwayne waited for Gris to continue, putting a patient paw on the human's back.
 
"I . . . was wondering if I could . . . work through those feelings a little," Gris finally said. "With you. During our roleplay."
 
There was a long pause.
 
"I'm honored you're charging me with something so personal," Dwayne finally said. "My biggest priority is to make sure you're safe when we do our scenes. With that said: are you sure?"
 
Gris nodded.
 
"You're not doing this because you feel like you have to, right? Because this isn't something you owe me, or something you have to work through right now."
 
Gris shook his head.
 
"And you know that if it triggers something bad, you can /always/ safeword, right babe?"
 
Gris nodded again. "I feel like those feelings are stuck inside me," he explained, sounding defeated. "I've only had them come out rarely, and that's always when I've been most vulnerable." He sighed. "That was a long time ago, though."
 
"Ok." Dwayne nodded. Then he took a breath, and smiled.
 
"Let's discuss things further, and then schedule a day to begin."
 
__________
 
Dwayne gently lowered his boyfriend to the ground. The human was tied tight with rope: his wrists and ankles were bound together, as were his legs and arms, making this the most rope they'd ever used in a scene. Gris's eyes were closed, and he was pretending to be asleep.
 
The wolf placed Gris gently on the kitchen floor, and then walked down to the hall. After a few seconds, he made his way inside.
 
Gris opened his eyes. Immediately he noticed something was off, and tried moving his arms. They didn't budge, and revealed rope was holding them behind him, tying them to his legs. "Hello?" he called, a scared note in his voice. "Is anyone there."
 
"I'm here, snack."
 
Gris looked up with his eyes to see a wolf approaching, a smirk adorning the beast's face.
"Look what I caught," the lupine teased, licking his lips. "A tiny piece of meat, ready to be swallowed whole."
 
Gris said nothing, which surprised Dwayne. His boyfriend had never responded that way before in a scene.
 
"Look at my little lunch," the wolf continued. "So much smaller than the other one I caught. How pathetic you are."
 
"Shut up," Gris muttered--another response he hadn't done in a scene before. The human struggled against the ropes, but they held tight--Dwayne's knots stayed true.
 
"Why should I, little snack?" Dwayne taunted. He laughed. "You're nothing to me, you know that? Just a tiny little thing. A morsel I won't even remember once I finish the last bite.
 
"In fact, I'll probably forget you exist," Dwayne snarled, continuing with a smirk. "You pathetic little morsel--so small for a human. You're nothing compared to the other food I've caught."
 
"Shut the fuck up!" Gris screamed, yelling with such force that spit flew in the predator's face. "Y-You chose me to be here, so why the /fuck/ are you blaming me for not being what you wanted? Take responsibility, you stupid piece of shit!"
 
The wolf leaned back in surprise, watching the human scream.
 
"You can't do that; that's not fair! Why would you change the rules like that?! Fuck you for comparing me to others! I . . . I. . .
 
"I don't deserve that, Mom!"
 
Dwayne's eyes widened in surprise. Tears were flowing from Gris's startled eyes.
 
"A-and--fuck, fuck . . . pause, magenta."
 
Upon hearing the safeword, Dwayne immediately broke character and ran up to Gris, kneeling to meet the human's eyes. "Are you ok babe?" he asked.
 
"Yeah," Gris replied, panting. His wolf reached down, and gently wiped away the tears. "Just need to catch my breath for a second."
 
"Ok. Need any water? Or do you want me to loosen the ropes?"
 
"No, I'm good. Thanks though."
 
They sat in silence as Gris breathed.
 
"Sorry," the human finally said. "I kinda got out of control. That came out of nowhere."
 
"You have nothing to apologize for," Dwayne said, kissing his human on the cheek. It tasted salty. "You're totally fine, babe."
 
A pause. And then, "Thanks for doing this," Gris said. "I really appreciate it."
 
"Of course," the canine said, giving Gris a reassuring smile.
 
"I needed that," Gris admitted. "I know I'm /weird/ for needing it."
 
"What?" Dwayne reached over and pet the human's hair. "That's not weird--that's life, babe."
 
Gris laughed, leaning into the affectionate pets. "Thanks."
 
There was a pause, and then, "Ok." Gris took a deep breath. "We can resume now. Just . . . be gentler with me, ok? A lot gentler."
 
Dwayne nodded. Then he returned to his predator persona, and smiled down at his prey.
 
"Let's send you down the hatch, snack."
 
He shoved Gris into his waiting maw, and the human was immediately surrounded by darkness and saliva. Gris was slowly savored by the lupine's lapping tongue, which ate up every inch of his face. The human sighed and relaxed, leaning into the tongue's welcoming licks.
 
A few seconds later, the human was sent into Dwayne's throat with a strong /gulp/, which pushed his head past the uvula and into a tight, uncomfortable chamber. The lupine began to wolf Gris down, swallowing greedily and barely taking any time to taste his snack. He knew Gris loved the stomach best--and after such an intense experience, the human deserved to be sent there quick.
 
Sure enough, Gris soon entered the belly's slimy interior, slipping into the large chamber with ease. Thanks to the ropes, he could only barely manuver inside, but the human didn't mind--he loved feeling helpless, and having Dwayne take control was always a delight.
 
With a final swallow, all of him was inside the stomach, sealed away from the world and tucked inside the secret, grumbling chamber. Gris sighed and leaned against the pliable walls as best he could.
 
Outside, Dwayne was rubbing his stomach, feeling Gris move around inside. "You were delicious," he said, loud enough for Gris to hear. "Of all the snacks I've eaten, none of them are better than you."
 
Both boyfriends leaned back, and relaxed. They knew that, though things had gotten hard, everything was going to be alright.