literature

Feraltale (2): Hugs?

Deviation Actions

Sketchy-Vore's avatar
By
Published:
12K Views

Literature Text

Having the kid around was a little more… stressful than I had expected.

There must be something I was doing wrong, because the kid just wasn’t relaxing. Not around me, and definitely not while they had Papyrus’s attention.

I couldn’t really blame them for that though, Paps was a bundle of nervous energy around the kid.

As I expected he was overjoyed to meet a new friend. What I didn’t expect was for the kid to be so jumpy. I think my brother’s enthusiasm scared them. As soon as he had come too close the kid they pushed his face away and tried to escape, almost causing me to drop them. After that things were pretty tense between the both of them.

I knew he didn’t mean to, but Papyrus constantly put the kid on edge. He wanted to play with them, but he also wanted to give the kid space. This caused him to try and approach the kid, only to scurry away as soon as their eyes as much as widened.

I understand what he was trying to do, but if he didn’t approach the kid with calm confidence the kid wouldn’t relax either.

Things weren’t that much better between us. I made it a point to take the kid in as often as possible, keeping them nice and warm inside my pouch to show I cared about them. At first things seemed to go alright. I’d often feel their tiny hands fluttering around to steady themself, but they never thrashed around or panicked as badly as that first time.

Once they got used to it, however, I could tell something was wrong.

The way they’d lay down, it didn’t seem like they were entirely relaxed. Rather they seemed…downhearted, irritated even. I wasn’t sure if I preferred this over the human child’s panic and desperation, but I knew for sure this was still far from how I wanted the kid to feel.

Something that likely didn’t help was that I wouldn’t let the kid leave the den. I wanted to let them, going out to play and exercise was good for little babybones. I wanted them to leave this place with the thought that they had a safe home here to return to, but right now the kid’s mind was set on escape.

They were so weary the kid wouldn’t even sleep with ease. That first evening I’d tried to gently pull the kid against me to sleep. Halfway through the night I woke up to find them huddled up in another corner of the den. The next day both Pap and I went to the dump to look for anything soft we could find. Pillows, loose stuffing, blankets, everything was stuffed into an empty duvet cover. And it was only tied shut when I was satisfied that I couldn’t feel the ground when I sunk my paws into it.

We put it in the kid’s corner with one of our blankets (so they could get used to our smell) for them to sleep on. They looked more comfortable that way.

They slept alright and they ate the food we offered, though nearly not as much as I’d like, but they still didn’t seem at ease whenever we got anywhere near them.

It was as if there was an uneasy truce between the three of us.




It was on a lazy afternoon that I woke up to the kid sitting on their improvised nest. Papyrus seemed to have gone outside already, so they were just fiddling with the corners of their blanket. They looked bored, and lonely.

I sat up with a stretch and an audible yawn. I could see their shoulders tense up at that. I stood and slowly walked over, leaving my slippers by the nest and my claws to click against the stone floor.

I knew the kid didn’t seem that comfortable around us, but letting them know where we were was better than accidentally sneaking up on them.

The kid was almost entirely curled up into a tiny ball as I reached them. I reasoned that the kid would eventually figure out that we wanted to be their friends, but there still wasn’t any progress. Maybe I just needed to be a bit more patient, but I’d keep on trying if it meant this kind human would be happy one day.

I sat down behind them and gently started to lick at their hair and neck. They held completely still, staying in that curled up position. I ignored it, they usually unwound after a few minutes.

I say usually, because I suddenly felt their body jerk with a sob. I maneuvered around a bit so I could see their face, stained with tears from what up till now had been silent crying. More than a little alarmed I moved closer, licking at their cheek.

The only warning I got was a tense of muscles and a surge of anger from the child in front of me, before tiny hand shoved harshly at my face. I immediately pulled back to look at the small human, my eyes wide with shock. They were staring back at me; body tense, teeth bared in what looked almost like a snarl, their eyes bright and vivid like a roaring fire.

“Okay! I get it!” They suddenly screamed out. “I taste good and you can’t get enough of it! That’s why I’m still alive isn’t it?! You just can’t make up your mind and end it! Why won’t you just decide already and get it over with?! I c-can’t take this! I c-c-can’t g-go on this way-y-y! I-I-I-I…..I….”

They looked up at my face as I stared in shock. I had never heard the kid say this much since the first time I took them into my pouch. Up till now it had just been small mumbles of ‘thank you’ when we offered them something to eat.

At the sight of my shocked, unmoving face, their protests stopped, jaw moving up and down without sound. Then their head lowered, the fire I saw before snuffed out in an instant and leaving behind an empty husk.

“I-I’m sorry. You’re taking care of me and as long as I’m a burden on you I should be a good-....I should be good and obey.”

I was completely struck down by the child’s words. They…...they thought I….

Suddenly I felt nothing but rage towards the one that made this CHILD believe that they were nothing but a task they were forced to take care of. That told a KID straight to their face that they should shut up about their opinions and do what they were told. That taught this kid that there was no selfless kindness, only debts to repay.

My claws started digging into the stone floor as another thought came to me; How often had this kid asked for help and needed support, only for selfish people to dismiss their suffering, to push it back down under the surface as they struggled for a breath of air they couldn’t get? How many times had they dragged themselves back under like they had now so others wouldn’t get angry?

My fury was quickly smothered by yet another realization.

I had been such an idiot. All this time I had tried to comfort this kid like a monster would, like my instincts told me I should. They were a human, with human instincts and behaviors. I should have focused on that! I felt panic and helplessness crawl up my spine as I realized how much I had intentionally ignored and forgotten in the past, just because I had come to see humans as a shitty race in general.

There was one thing I knew kinda helped though.

I looked up to see them still looking down, hands wringing nervously in their lap. Slowly I extended a paw behind their back and softly lay it there. Their entire body gave a violent spasm in fear. I gave them a moment to process the situation before I slowly started rubbing circles, carefully adding a bit more pressure until their body lightly moved with it. I kept going as I prepared for some kind of reaction, relaxation, a discharge, any way the kid would get rid of the tension.

I didn’t have to wait that long. First a few stray tears started to fall from their eyes, but at my lack of a reaction (or protest) they suddenly broke out in ugly sobs. They were still holding back though. They shouldn’t do that, they should be getting all that stress and frustration out of their body. But I had no idea how to tell them it was okay to do so.

As the tears kept coming and their hands weren’t dry enough to remove them anymore the kid picked their blanket back up and pressed it to their face, rubbing until their eyelids were red and irritated. Then they pulled it to their chest, holding it close and curling around it. I’d seen them do this a few times before. Especially at night before sleeping they would ball up the fabric and hold it just like tha-

Wait, is this a human thing!?

I quickly focused, mind racing to figure this out. The way they curled around the blanket looked somewhat protective in nature, yet their tiny balled up form also made them look like they were looking for safety. Comfort maybe?

A quick peek into their soul confirmed that thought. Tension would slowly build up in their body and then they’d squeeze the blanket a bit tighter, releasing that same tension in small doses.

So, this was helping them a bit. Would it be okay if I...?  Maybe it would. I mean, it still kinda looked like it could be used protectively. Maybe it was a thing that, as humans grew up and became stronger, turned from a plea for comfort to a way of giving it. Well, guess this was the only thing I had now, I wanted to at least try and risk it.

The hand that was still rubbing their back stopped, the other one moving under their legs to support them. As I lifted them the distress felt like it was getting a bit worse, their body going still as their eyes focused on my teeth.

I didn’t lift them higher than my chest though, gently laying their upper body against my rib cage and gently wrapping one, and then the other arm around them. I kept my arms loosely around them so they could push me off in case I was wrong, but firm enough so they wouldn’t slip from my grasp. They seemed a bit surprised at first, but the waterworks started again pretty quickly.

First it was a few silent tears, but after a few little sobs they surprised me. I loosened my arms a bit when they started to wiggle and they quickly turned around in my arms. Then they grasped my sweater with both hands and buried their face into the thick fabric.

I looked down in awe as they willingly clung to me, and my eyes widened even further as they finally seemed to let loose, sobs turning to wails. Broken words and sentences came tumbling out, admitting how scared they were, that they didn’t know what was going on or what to do anymore.

Most of it was lost to me in sniffles and shokes, but I listened as they poured out their soul—quite literally, the stress finally seemed to be leaving their body faster than it could build up.

My soul was aching at this kid’s turmoil, but at the same time I was so happy I finally had something that allowed me to help them. Sure, doing this felt a little weird, but… it wasn’t that different from putting the kid in my pouch. I mean, they were close and warm, only it was my arms keeping them safe and secure instead of my pouch.

Heh, humans and their hands. Should have figured that they’d simulate anything using them.

I sat there for—as humans would put it—‘what felt like hours’, but I felt pretty content. Especially as the kid started to calm down, still clinging to me. Their eyes were red and they looked dazed, but I could feel them slumping down against my chest. I wanted to stay like that, just let the kid drift off without disturbing them, but there were some things to set straight first.

I slowly lowered the kid, their hands slowly releasing my sweater as I sat them down on the ground. As soon as they sat comfortably on their nest, they looked up at me again.

I wouldn’t deny the kid had a nice flavor, but that wasn’t the reason I did what I did. At this point I couldn’t focus on such a selfish goal. Right now I had to make sure the kid felt safe around me, I didn’t care which methods I had to use.

Making sure I had their attention I stuck my tongue out and lightly touched the tip with my claw. The human started wringing their hands again. I quickly held my forearm to my face, licked along the radius and rubbed it against my forehead for good measure. At the human’s confused look I repeated the gestures; pointing out my tongue and licking my arm.

“Erm, the licking was….grooming?”

I perked up at the kid’s words, humming at their understanding. Their face still betrayed some confusion and uncertainty though. I guess that was understandable. Grooming wasn’t something inherent to our kind, except for maybe the lining of my hood we had no hair to groom. I had picked it up from the furred creatures here in Snowdin and thought that maybe the kid would like it since they had hair on their head. Turns out that had been a wrong assumption.

I moved on to the next explanation anyway. I sat straight, sticking out my belly and light patting it. Hoping to ease kid’s nerves, I quickly wrapped my arms around my chest like I had while holding them and tried to look as soft and content as possible, rocking from side to side a bit.

“And the….e-eating thing….is like hugs?”

I tilted my head. Obviously they were comparing ‘taking them in’ to something. I think they meant the holding thing, but I wasn’t absolutely sure if that last word-

“Uh, hugs...that’s the….”

They spread their arms out slightly before clamping them around themself, even mimicking the rocking. I perked up with a happy chirp. Okay, hugs, the comforting holding thing is called ‘hugs’, I’ll make sure to remember that.

I wrapped my arms around my belly with a happy purr, once again imitating a ‘hugs’ but around my pouch.

“O-oh…”

There was understanding in the child’s eyes now, then a bit of relief. Their eyes dropped down to their lap, where their hands lay still. I could feel a sigh leaving my body through my nose—thank Delta, they understood. Things were going get better now, we’d just let it sink in and then the kid could start trusting us a little more, I could officially introduce them to Papyrus and then they could play outside and-

My attention was drawn back to the kid as their fingers twitched nervously. They didn’t look scared, but there was clearly some nervousness and reluctance on their face.

Okay then.

I reached out for the kid and picked them up. They gave a startled little twitch, but they didn’t struggle. They were nervously eying my maw again though, mouth pulling into a thin line. I lay the kid against my chest instead, lightly nuzzling their hair with my snout.

I knew the kid wouldn’t like to be swallowed again just yet. I had kind of hoped they would, but I didn’t count on it—I could use ‘hugs’ for now instead. Maybe the kid would never like being taken in, but they were a human, I had to respect that. It was more important they would start to feel happy again right now, and I’d use ‘hugs’ for that as long as I’d need to.

The kid stayed still for a few moments, then their hands reached up for my shoulders and pulled their small body up. After a bit of wiggling and shifting they finally settled, laying their head on my shoulder and nuzzling into the fluffy lining of my hood. And then, with a little sigh, they finally relaxed.

Welp, I could definitely live with this.
Happy Hollidays people! Have some cute but not quit vore stuff! There are mentions of vore though

Part 1
© 2016 - 2024 Sketchy-Vore
Comments21
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
0M364FUKC's avatar
Not the best chapter in my opinion, but a good one.