"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."

-Hippocrates

(F/m willing vore)

Liko winced as the waitress set the small plate down on the table, the china beneath him rattling with a jarring impact. The white china plate came to rest on the table with Liko sitting atop it, his face still set in a grimaced and his hands rubbing his cold, bare back.

An enormously tall woman sat at the table before him, comparatively a hundred feet in height. She had long dark hair, fashioned in a blowout, with one thin but prominent streak of purple highlights running down the right side of her hair. Her skin was dark brown, her features remarkably beautiful. Her face was slender with a long nose positioned between prominent cheekbones and above full lips, painted red with lipstick.

“There you go. One willing male. Anything else you need at the moment, miss? More wine perhaps?”

The waitress was a white woman of about twenty-five. She was dressed khaki pants and a collared shirt emblazoned with The Forbidden Dish logo. The collar of the black shirt was tucked downwards, but beneath it was the collar of another shirt worn underneath, colored a glowing pink. This second shirt's collar was popped upwards about her neck, contrasting noisily while standing at attention over its subdued neighbor.

Garish yellow lipstick and matching eyeliner made the waitress appear almost like a circus clown. This comparison was further enhanced by her hair, which was worn in pigtails and dyed red on the left side and green on the right. On her chest was a name tag that read “Adela.” The letters were only just legible as the rest of the tag was festooned with decorative stickers that included unicorns, stars, and flowers. Her yellow lips smiled in an otherwise matronly demeanor, hovering over the customer with notepad and pen poised at the ready.

“No, thank you. I have enough wine.” The customer's voice was relaxing, pleasant and serious in equal measures. A short and well-trimmed, painted fingernail rapped her wine glass in punctuation to the thought. The crystal emitted a rich “ting” as the maroon liquid's surface within rippled like amplifiers.

“I should be all set with this little one,” she indicated Liko with a nod.

“I’ll be nearby if you decided to need anything else. Not too late to get the discount on the second shrinky if you decide you want another one.”

“Just this for now,” the woman at the table replied pleasantly.

The waitress nodded, “Enjoy. I’ll be back to check on you when he’s gone.”

Turning, she made her way into the restaurant. Her alternately dyed pigtails swung behind her as she weaved around several tables where couples or small groups sat in small quiet congregations. Soft violin and piano music played in the room.

Liko turned his attention from the departing waitress, and the room at large, back to the woman sitting at the table. She was already looking down at him, her brow furrowed in what appeared to be concern

.

“Are you okay?”

“Well, I… I suppose. I mean, I’m definitely okay. Definitely. More than okay. Great even.” His fingers twitched with nervous excitement, like stage fright before getting up to speak to a room full of people. Granted this was a one-person audience, but she was enormously tall.

His body felt hot from excitement. Simultaneously, the room felt remarkably cold, likely a effect of his reduced size. It didn't help that he wore nothing more than underwear.

The woman looked a bit befuddled. “It’s just, I saw that waitress put your plate down in a careless manner. It looked like a rough landing.”

“Oh, that,” Liko replied. “Yes, it was a bit of an abrupt arrival on your dinner table. Despite the back pain, it appears worth it overall.” He rubbed his back in a mild display of acting. His back wasn’t really bothering him but it seemed a good enough topic to begin a conversation. He’d wanted to talk beforehand.

“Second time that’s happened to me tonight actually. I shrank down a little while ago with a girl whom I had met at the bar. She was about to eat me, but then got cold feet at the last minute. She sent me back and I thought it was unlucky, but now? Well, you’re even more beautiful than she was.”

The woman’s full lips pulled into a dazzling smile. “Well aren’t you a little charmer? I think I could get used to you. Keep you around. You could be my little pocket pal.” She mimed taking a small object from within her pocket. “When I need an emotional boost then I’ll turn to you.”

Liko laughed. “Doesn’t sound so bad. Though I thought you might have different plans.”

“Yeah. It’s a nice idea but I’m afraid you won’t last that long. I’ve been looking forward to you all day and I wouldn’t be able to resist eating you for long. And if you taste half as sweet as you talk then you might just get the award for the tastiest tiny ever.”

Liko gave a thumb’s up. “I hope so. But before that, may I please know your name? I’m Liko. Liko Thammavongsa.”

“Liko Thamm…” Her continents gave up halfway through, declining into a blurred “mmm.”

Her eyebrows shot skywards once more. White teeth pressing gently against her full lower lips as her shoulders rose towards her ears.

“Just call me Liko, or ‘Like,’ if it is easier.”

“Whew. Liko it is then, little guy. Yeah, that last name’s cute, but a real mouthful.” The woman smirked in belated realization of her unintentional pun. “Kinda like you, little fella. The name matches the man. Oh, but where are my manners?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I’m Trissa Bordeaux.”

“Nice to meet you Trissa.”

“You too. Liko. Like… Hmm. A mouthful of man that I am going to like.” Trissa giggled in conspiratorial amusement. “This is too fun. Where is your name from?”

“It’s Laotian. I can’t speak a word of Lao, but it didn’t stop my parents from giving me a fully Laotian name. Fortunately, my first name isn’t too complex, but none of my friends can pronounce my last name correctly. Oh, and I’m from Seattle originally. Or rather, just outside the city.”

“Well hello, my yummy little Laotian friend. Can’t say I know much about Laos or Seattle.” She paused, then in the accompaniment of another semi-embarrassed wince she added, “Although I have seen every episode of ‘Frasier’ ever made.”

“Really?” Liko giggled. He shifted on his plate, spreading his hands back and to either side to better prop himself up as he leaned back to look up at the attractive woman above him. “As in, every single episode?”

Trissa face wore the aspect of culpability, a silent confession that she drowned with a sip of wine. “Don’t judge me. It’s a guilty pleasure. I like Niles Crane best. He has some pretty sick burns through the course of the eleven seasons. Have you ever watched it?”

Liko nodded, the action somewhat awkward when tilting his neck back to look at the giantess. “Well sure. I mean I’ve seen the program, though certainly not every episode. Never was my favorite, but it’s okay. My vices tend towards fast cars. A bit more audacious and adrenaline-fueled than TV shows.”

“True. But my other guilty pleasure is eating shrunken people,” Trissa defended. “Bold enough for you, yummy little Like?”

“As bold as being eaten?” was the shrunken person’s mischievous rejoinder.

Trissa seemed delighted with the comeback. “Oh, you are clever. I’m so happy you’re mine. Although you’ll have to alter your opinion about Frasier, seeing as how after tonight you’ll be a part of me. Then what I like is going to be what you like. No more Top Gear for you. And my car is a totally unsexy eight-year-old Dodge Journey that I bought used.” She smirked at Liko’s playful expression of disgust. “Yeah, dude. Not much sporty about it. I even hung a flower ornament from the rearview mirror. I’ll give you a ride in it tonight when I’m going home. Of course, by then, you’ll be squirming away in my belly so it might be hard for you to appreciate the subtle engineering genius of my minivan.”

Liko thought this over. “I suppose that’s true. But tell me more about you aside from your car. What else do you like? Tell me about the woman who is going to have me for dinner.”

Trissa considered the question with another sip of wine. “Well, I’m from Louisiana originally, with a French Creole heritage. In terms of religion… My daddy was a minister so as a girl I attended regular Sunday service. But now I’m an agnostic.”

“That must not have gone over well at home.”

Trissa shook her head. “It didn’t at first. But daddy is a sweetie. When I told him it was my decision as an adult, he respected it. Hasn’t pushed back since. Though he did give me a stern lecture when he first learned that I came to The Forbidden Dish.”

“Guess you didn’t listen,” Liko observed.

“No. Of course, I listened.”

“Really? But you’re here. And presumably about to have me for dinner.”

“Yes, I am,” Trissa agreed. “But he was still my daddy. Not listening would hurt his feelings. So I let him tell me what he thought was best. Just like last time I told him I would make my own decision but thanked him for his perspective. And just like before he backed off.”

“You have a pretty good dad,” Liko observed. “That’s an advanced stance to take, respecting your boundaries. “

Trissa nodded. “I have great parents, mom and dad. I remember when I turned twelve they gave me this bike. It had streamers and when I peddled it around the driveway I felt like a fairy princess. And my mom had made a cake from scratch. They’re still so good to me. Always give me a shoulder to cry on. I saw them just last week actually.”

“But you don’t tell them about coming to The Forbidden Dish?”

“No way. I mean they know I come but I’m definitely not passing them any details.”

“Ah. So I won’t live on in the Trissa Bordeaux story archive.”

“Well, you will. I’ll talk about you tomorrow, but to girlfriends or people at work.” Trissa furrowed her brow. “Definitely not to my mom and dad.”

“It’s nice to know that I’ll be remembered tomorrow.”

Trissa smiled. “I will remember you longer than that. Maybe for a while, actually. I’ve eaten a number of people before this but never one so fun to talk with.” Oh, that reminds me. She rummaged about in a black purse, extracting a phone. “May I take your picture? It’ll be fun to show people tomorrow!”

Liko nodded, spreading his arms wide in invitation, his continence one of eager anticipation. “Of course. The more ways you remember me the better.”

“Hold still, and keep that smile going, little guy.” Trissa positioned her camera. There was a blinding flash and the digital snap of a picture. Liko blinked several times, light dancing on his retinas.

“Whoops! Did I blind you, Liko? I did the same thing to the last guy I ate. Sorry, I forgot how unpleasant that bright flash can be to shrunken people.”

“It’s okay,” Liko replied, blinking several times as his vision slowly returned to normal. “But tell me more about yourself, Trissa. I am still curious about you. What do you do for a living?”

“Oh. Well, I’m thirty-two. For work, I’m a marine biologist and work in an aquaculture lab. I work for a professor at the state university. We have a grant to study coral reefs for the next two years, so we’re exposing coral polyps to various changes in temperature and water salinity, then analyzing those data. After that we put our heads together with the geneticists in an attempt to develop a coral that can survive in more adverse environments. With the rising water temperatures and coral bleaching becoming more of a problem in the world’s oceans, we are working to ensure such ecosystems can survive global warming.”

“What laudable work. And that’s impressive. You must be very smart.”

“Thanks. And the work is worthwhile. I’m passionate about the environment. But you wanted to know more about me, not my research.” She paused considering. Then abruptly, she let out a weighty sigh. “Uugh. Liko, you’re so… nice. I wish I could keep you around, dude. Why can’t any of the guys I date be more like you? If we had met on a date then I bet we would have hit it off. And you would be okay with me coming here to eat people. Not be all judge-y and grossed out like my last boyfriend.” Trissa sighed. “Ha. Can you imagine the story we could tell about how we met, me about to eat you and then us falling for each other?” The two smiled at each other, their eyes connecting and each imagining what might have been.

A moment passed.

Trissa frowned, annoyed. “Like, dude, that was an invitation in case you didn’t pick up on it.”

Liko shook his head. “I didn’t miss the suggestion. And honestly Trissa, I would love to. You’re smart and beautiful…”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” Trissa predicted with recessed enthusiasm.

“Well, it’s just that the contract I signed as a prerequisite to be shrunken said that it was a permanent reduction in height. I don’t think this restaurant restores people to their original size.”

Trissa frowned, clearly nonplussed. “But they must. I have sent people back because they changed their minds about being eaten before. No one would be eaten against their will, would they?” She leaned back in her seat. One hand fiddled with the purple strands of her colored hair. She was clearly unhappy with the thought of a shrinky averse to being eaten.

“Aren’t ‘unwilling shrunken people’ on the menu?” Liko asked.

“Well, I… Yeah. I guess so. But I figured they were probably actors pretending to be afraid. The idea of eating someone who actually isn’t into it is a huge turn-off. Who would want to do that to someone? It’s unthinkable.”

Liko shrugged. “Maybe. Though I think some people might be into the power trip. Anyway, Trissa. Us dating is a nice idea but I came here to be eaten. It’s what I’ve been looking forward to. Maybe we can go through with it?”

Trissa nodded. “Of course. If that is what you’d prefer.” She extended her hand towards the diminutive man.

“Wait,” Liko held up his own hand. “I still want to hear just a little more about you if that’s okay? Do you mind?”

Trissa smiled. “You really are going to make me think you are the perfect guy, asking me about myself all this time. Okay. Let’s see. I’m like, totally addicted to cycle fitness classes. They are so much fun and keep me in shape after all the time I spend in a lab. What else? Hmm. After getting my BS and MS from LSU, I have become a huge Tigers football fan.” She brushed her streak of dyed purple hair. “That’s why I dyed my hair actually. We had a big game last week and I wanted to support the school from afar. We lost, of course. Even though I dyed my hair.” She shook her head in mock-incredulity.

It was Liko’s turn to wince. “Is this the wrong time to admit that I went to school in Florida?”

There was a beat of silence at the table as the shrunken man and giant woman regarded each other in a new captious light appropriated only for rival sports fans.

“It’s okay,” Trissa replied in a tentative voice. “Remember how you are a future Frasier fan? Well, the same can be said about LSU.”

“Maybe so. But remember that my spirit will still hold true to Florida,” Liko replied with solemnity.

“But your body will be mine. And as a future part of me, I can tell you with certainty that you are going to be rooting against Florida next time they meet the Tigers.” An impish grin played on her features. “You know, it will be fun to think about you next time our teams play. I can tell my friends I ate a Florida fan. Eating you just gets better and better. A handsome gentleman from Seattle who went to a rival school from my alma mater. You might be the perfect snack, Liko.”

“Perhaps I will be your best snack,” Liko asserted. He folded his hands across his chest with lofty resolve.

“That depends on how long you can keep moving around inside me.” There was no uncertainty in the tone. Every word was a challenge.

“Do people typically squirm for a while?”

Trissa raised a hand, massive in comparison to Liko, and waggled it from side to side like a boat on a stormy sea. “Kinda depends on the person. There’s really no judging it based on how someone looks. Some hardly struggle at all while others last a delightfully long time. One of the longest was this petite little girl I met here a while back. She just kept moving around. Not a crazy amount, you understand. It was a subtle little tickle. But she lasted… Though I took some antacids beforehand to help her from getting burned too much too quickly.”

“Sounds like you come here a lot. How many people have you eaten?”

“Fourteen. And yeah, I come here a few times a year.” Trissa replied. “It’s expensive. Especially on my salary. And with my student loan payments. But it’s nice to treat myself, so I usually come here a few times a year. I’ll always ask friends to put money towards a ‘shrinky credit’ on my restaurant account for things like birthday gifts. Even with my dad’s objections, my parents once bought me enough credit for a full shrinky for Christmas. It was so nice of them, although writing the ‘thank you’ card was a bit awkward.”

“That would be delicate.” Liko agreed. A thought struck him. “By the way, are you planning to take any of those antacids tonight?”

Trissa rummaged about in her purse once more, this time extracting a small, rattling container of antacids. Popping the top, she swallowed the tiny, white pill with a sip of wine. Then she smiled at Liko.

“Speaking of, it’s about that time. Are you ready to go into my belly, lucky little Liko?”

Liko couldn’t hide his enthusiasm. After getting to know this beautiful woman, he was all the more excited about being her meal. “Absolutely.”

Trissa’s warm fingers gently encircled Liko’s body, bringing him upwards. “Okay, cutie. This has been a really fun discussion and I want you to know that you’ve been my favorite shrinky, so far. And I hope that you like this experience as much as I will. You’re not backing out on me are you?”

“Would it matter if I did?” Liko asked.

Trissa’s eyes widened, then narrowed. Her voice betrayed her disappointment. “Of course it matters. Have you changed your mind? I’ll send you back. I don't really believe that they wouldn't resize you.” She began to turn towards the room at large, looking for the ostentatious waitress.

“No, no.” Liko tried to put up his hands, but they were held at his sides by her gentle grip. “I still want to be eaten.”

“Oh good!” The relief was evident in her tone. “I would never eat someone who changed their mind.”

“You’re a really good person,” Liko told her.

“Thanks. Now that we have that cleared up…”

There was another almost award pause.

Finally, Trissa said, “Well, it was nice talking to you Liko. I hope you like… me.”

With that, she opened wide. Her glistening tongue extended past her lips, sparkling white teeth glistened above. Beyond was darkness.

“Oh, wow.” Liko gaped in awe.

And then she brought him forward and gently placed him on the tongue. Her mouth closed, the world turning to darkness as soft lips enveloped his waist. Beneath him the tongue moved gently, caressing him.

There was a sudden, terrible pressure. His ears popped. It hurt even in his eyes. And suddenly he was slurped fully into her mouth.

The world became a confusion of tongue, teeth, and upper palate as Trissa sloshed him about. Liko tried his best to keep his arms and legs tight, not wanting to risk banging them against the sharp teeth around him.

He felt it when she decided to swallow. She stopped sloshing him about, pressed him against the roof of her mouth, and gave a tiny swallow, getting rid of the saliva in her mouth and (presumably) moistening the way for him.

Then, with a violent expulsion from the mouth, his body was swallowed easily by her throat and forced rapidly downwards.

The close confines of the esophagus were enough to bring about some degree of claustrophobia. Still, he kept his limbs close to his body. The tight tubing through which he traveled didn’t offer enough room to really put his arms out anyway, but still, he fell headfirst and without resistance.

The esophagus rapidly gave way to the belly. Ingress through the sphincter was tight, though still well lubricated. Liko fell into the belly into a thigh-deep pool of liquid. It smelled like a foul mix between a chemistry lab and wine.

The darkness shifted, the liquid sloshing back and forth around Liko. He tried to gain footing but his bare feet struggled to find purchase on the slippery and remarkably warm stomach bottom. To make matters worse, a disgusting multitude of particulate material was suspended in the liquid, making things not only nauseating, but also much more slippery.

Of course, it was the remains of whatever Trissa had eaten a few hours earlier. Still, it was a stark reminder that he was now within Trissa. In fact, she was all about him. The realization brought him to his senses. He was living his fantasy. A beautiful woman had truly eaten him alive. Now he was going to be digested.

So far, digestion was not hurting. Perhaps because of that antacid she had told him about. That got him thinking about her pretty face, her smile, how they had gotten along so well. He even remembered the sound of her voice. Did she like him as much as he liked her?

Her words came back to him in the gloom. “Depends upon how long you can keep moving inside me.” The thought made him grope through the darkness, crouching as he did so to preserve his balance.

Can she feel my footsteps? He wondered.

A moment later his hand touched her stomach wall. Pressing his body against it, he did his best to move about.

Could she feel-

“That’s it. Keep moving, Liko,” she encouraged her delicious little meal. It was so sensual to think that she was talking to him, her food. Was she thinking about him like he was thinking about her, imaging her face, her voice, her smile?

Trissa’s voice sounded in the stomach. It was distorted and far off, but entirely unmistakable. She was talking. To her food. To him.

In the darkness of her stomach, Liko grinned fiercely.

***

Liko had not resisted on the way down her throat. In contrast to so many others she had swallowed, who had seemed to be struggling the moment she’d gulped them, Liko had gone down smoothly and without any perceptible struggle. Initially, it had made her almost disappointed by his docile compliance. But, once he reached her belly, he had begun moving about almost instantly.

There was nothing of the fevered squirming that so many of her shrunken humans exhibited, occasionally making her worry that they might have belatedly changed their minds. This was different. It was slow. Slow but gentle. This had the like a sensual passion that was entirely new to her.

Trissa had lingered at the table for a few moments, her brain unable to focus on anything more than the subtle motion from within and relish every second. She even spoke to Liko, whispering sweet accolades in a low murmur. This drew odd looks from a pair of women at a nearby table, but Trissa was too enraptured by the sensation to pay any notice.

Finally, she had said, “Let’s go home, Liko. I’ll have to walk, but I’ll try not to jostle you about too much”

Trissa had left the waitress a generous tip, then made her way to the door. This being her fifteenth human, she knew from experience that excess motion might toss her meal around within the hot confines of her stomach, exciting him to greater action. But she didn’t just want action. She wanted to give him every advantage to endure - and to endure for as long as possible.

Her food –Liko- wanted the same, so it wouldn’t do to go swaying her hips like a vaudeville vixen. She had done this in the past before learning that subtlety was more rewarding than a swanky exit. Sure it was fun for a minute or two, but would also be rough on her meal. Thus her natural gait was temporarily curtailed in an attempt to glide motionlessly across the floor, offering as gentle a ride to the still-living food in her tummy.

True to his word, Liko continued to move as she walked out the door, nodding to the redheaded greater, made her way across the parking lot, and climbed into her gray Dodge Journey.

Liko had certainly been moving about. It had not been the violent, fevered thrashing that occasionally resulted from eating someone. This was subtle, gentle, even thoughtful. Much like Liko himself, she supposed with a grin.

Suddenly, with a flutter of motion from her stomach, a deep burp welled up from her belly. It caught Trissa off-guard. For a moment she was surprised. Then a second later, she felt the flutter again. Liko was still alive and well, though heavens knew what it must had been like in her stomach during that belch. "Didn't mean to burp that loudly, Liko. I hope it didn't rattle you too much."

There was the fluttering again, as much of a response as Liko was able to make. It gave her a case of the giggles. If he didn't know before he knew now. Liko was her food.

She glanced at the rearview mirror. Her own eyes stared back.

The eyes of a carnivore. A huntress cannibal queen.

She felt her own grin at the thought with a gentle pressing against her belly. “Can you hear me, food? You’re doing great my lucky little Liko. Keep it up in my belly. I’m driving us home.”

She turned the key in the ignition, then began to drive home. On impulse, she keyed the radio. By chance, a slow song was on the station. It was one she knew but had never before paid it much attention. Now it somehow it fit the evening's mood perfectly.

The slight flutters in her belly persisted the whole ride, and a little after. The happy woman hummed to the tune as she drove home.