Chapter Ten: Detour

Vela slept soundly and dreamt of the sun. She hadn’t dreamt the day before, but something about having Leo in her belly as she slumbered just warmed up her spirit in addition to merely her body. She enjoyed the lullaby of gurgles that the naga’s belly made. It reminded her of exactly where she was, and how welcome she was to be there. Vela liked feeling welcome. She had fallen asleep with the tingling delight she felt when she was invited into a human’s home, but it was multiplied many times over. She felt an even greater connection with the tiny borrower nestled up in her own belly now that she, too, could relate to the experience. She slept with a smile frozen on her serene face.

Leo had been sleeping rather soundly as well, extremely worn out by the many adventurous events of the evening. But he was woken suddenly by a strange noise. His eyes opened slowly, and he looked around, even though there was nothing to see. He was about to return to sleep when he heard it again. He didn’t just hear it, he felt it. It was a... squelching noise of some sort. He assumed the noises of the naga’s belly could permeate Vela’s skin and reach him in here if they were loud enough, but that sounded like it was coming from Vela. He heard it again, and her belly shifted a little.

“That’s... odd,” Leo thought. It wasn’t odd for a stomach to be a little active, but Vela’s had shown no signs of such behavior the first time he’d been in it. He had only ever heard it growl when she’d been starving the night they met. But this wasn’t a growl. It was something deeper.

Suddenly, the walls around him began to shift and compress around him softly. It wasn’t digesting him, was it? No, there was none of the gooey acid one would expect to find in that event. He was still perfectly comfortable. Her stomach was just... acting up. Maybe it thought it was digesting Leo, but all it accomplished was pushing him around a little. It was an odd development. He would ask Vela about it that night. He rolled over and got back to sleep.

As he slumbered, Vela’s stomach continued to constrict Leo softly and move him around. Eventually, the organ had successfully moved Leo down to the bottom corner of the sack, and he was gently gripped by pyloric sphincter and then slowly squeezed into the duodenum. Her body might not have been actually digesting the little borrower, but it seemed to be going through the motions anyway. The muscles and organs that had been asleep for centuries had reawakened. Leo was well on his way in what would only be the start of a long and slow process, and he was passed the point of no return.

After some time, Leo began to stir. He was subconsciously aware that he was in a much tighter situation than he had been when he had fallen asleep. His eyes opened, and he found it very difficult to move. He was in a very tight tube covered with little soft hairlike protrusions. He could feel them between his fingers as he tried to feel around, but his arms were more or less pinned to his sides. Leo considered himself lucky that borrowers weren’t claustrophobic. He listened to his surroundings, and he heard a few faint squelches and gurgles. They were definitely coming from inside Vela and not from the naga beyond. Realization came to Leo gradually as he became more alert and awake; he was inside her gut.

By now, he could be halfway through her small intestine. He had no idea how long he had been sliding through.

“Well this was unexpected,” he mumbled. “Somehow I don’t think Vela knew this was a possibility.” He tried to wriggle his way forward, but then he realized he wasn’t sure which direction he needed to go. He stopped moving and sat completely still long enough to determine which direction he was being pushed naturally. After a minute, he was pretty sure that he was sliding head-first.

“Thank the gods, at least I can speed this up,” he said. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to crawl backwards in the tight space. He slowly began making his way forward. He was fortunate that Vela was lying down, so he never had to crawl vertically. “I can’t believe I’m crawling through my girlfriend,” Leo said to himself. It was slow goings, and he stopped to take a break. He considered the distance that he would have to crawl and realized it wouldn’t actually take him all that long, but he wasn’t sure what he was going to do once he reached his goal. Thinking back, he had been unable to force even one of Vela’s eyes open while she slept. Somehow, he doubted he’d be able to force his way out of her, especially since she was probably sleeping on her back. No matter. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he just wanted to get somewhere with a little more room to move. He got back to his slow progress. They called this the small intestine for a reason.

He took a few breaks, but otherwise continued at a consistent snail’s pace. The strange texture of her gut was difficult to get traction against, but he was small and swift. Eventually, the texture of the walls of the tube that surrounded him became more complex in their many folds, and the villi seemed somewhat more pronounced. He thought he was probably in the ileum, so there wasn’t much longer until he could get somewhere a little more spacious.

He was correct in his assessment, and in another minute, he pushed through an opening and found himself in a much larger tube with a very different texture. It had occurred to him that it might be gross in the colon, but he was thankful that his hope held out. Vela didn’t eat. She didn’t produce waste. Nothing, presumably, besides Leo had been through here in who knows how long. He stretched his arms and legs out, thankful to be out of the cramped position the small intestine had forced him into. It was still snug in here, especially since the walls seemed to sense his presence and softly contracted around him in intermittent, slightly peristaltic waves, trying to urge him onwards towards Vela’s... exit.

Leo considered what that would be like, coming out of his girlfriend’s butt. He thought she had a perfect rear. He’d spent considerable time staring at it when the opportunities presented themselves. He had actually fantasized about spending more time ‘getting more familiar,’ with it, but this was a little direct. He realized that if he kept crawling much longer, he’d be inside his lover’s ass. By a certain standard, he already was. When she had joked about the ‘only way out,’ a couple of days ago, he hadn’t really given the details much thought, but he was thinking about it now. He was getting pretty excited about it.

“This is... pretty kinky...” Leo said to himself quietly. He wasn’t worried about what Vela would think. It was her fault for somewhat digesting him anyway. And now he was in her colon. He pressed onward.

A few sharp turns and a much easier crawl later, things opened up a little before they closed up tightly. He pressed softly against the wall of muscle, then he threw his whole body into it.

“Well, I tried,” he said. He made himself comfortable, and then really put some thought into his situation. He was stuck deep inside Vela’s rectum while she slept in the ‘safer’ first stomach of a serpentine women the size of a house. He had just successfully navigated her digestive system. He was proud of himself, and still, very unusually excited by the concept.

Meanwhile, the walls around him seemed to have “woken” to his presence as well, and they responded by flexing and constricting around Leo.

“Oh, boy...” Leo said. “Why can’t everything in here just stay still? Why’s it gotta get all active on my account?” And it was getting very active. Vela’s anal cavity seemed intimately aware of Leo’s presence, and it wanted him out. But Vela the vampire would have to make the final decision in that, so for the moment, her voluntary and involuntary processes were in conflict, and Leo was being squeezed rather snugly by the soft, squishy flesh around him. It wasn’t unpleasant; quite the contrary. It felt amazing. It was like being inside her while they made love, and yet it was gentler. Leo was enjoying the feelings of her strong anal muscles working on his little body very much, and he didn’t hold back in the slightest from expressing that enjoyment. He didn’t even need to touch himself. The walls were getting so snug and tight that he could just move his hips in time with her body and it felt amazing.

Vela, meanwhile, was dreaming very sweetly for the second time since having met Leo. Her dream began much like the first. She was basking in the light of the sun as she lied atop the stone slab of her childhood tomb. But she was an adult woman, not a child, and as she stared at the glowing window framing the sun that shone through the branches of the grand old apple tree, the shape of a golden man began to materialize in the window. He took corporeal form, and the sunlight grew brighter as he drifted down, descending upon her. His body rotated until it was parallel with her own, and he settled down on top of her. They shared a soft, simple kiss, and she felt his warmth fill her up deliciously. Vela wrapped her arms around the man that was the sun and pulled him tightly into her body.

“My light, my love,” she whispered. “How I cherish you!” She squeezed him lovingly in her embrace. As they lied there entwined in one another’s arms, she felt her lover’s radiant warmth growing more intense in her lower abdomen. She smiled. Somehow, this was natural to feel his heat both all around her and concentrated inside her... she wanted him badly. He was hers. She longed to make the two points of heat connect. She relaxed her grip in her arms and allowed him to push up. They gazed into each other’s eyes. There was a wordless understanding. Her eyes beckoned and he complied. She felt his glowing excitement hardening down below, and she raised her hips invitingly. He slid forward, entering her, and filling her up beautifully. She moaned. He felt perfect. But as he continued deeper, she felt a strange pressure increasing in her abdomen, and it seemed that her body was confused about where it was being touched. Somehow, she felt him penetrating her in both holes, and she gasped at the strangeness of the complete pleasure.

Meanwhile, in the stomach of the naga, the sleeping Vela began to do something she had never once done. She started to move in her sleep. She began rocking her hips in time with Leo’s internal motions, and in time with her imagined lovemaking in her dream. The real Vela let slip a quiet, squeaking sigh as the dream Vela cried out in ecstasy. Her dream lover, the sun, was ravishing her in impossibly wonderful ways, filling every inch of her in two simultaneous ways while the sleeping Vela unconsciously began to play with herself using the fingers of her right hand.

The dream sex reached a peak, and Vela called out the name of the sun in her dream, “Leo!”

Vela awoke. She was panting like mad. Her senses were confused, and nothing seemed to register or make sense. She was immediately aware that she had been dreaming, and that she had been touching herself in her sleep. Then, the strangeness of her actual bodily sensations began to click into place one at a time. She was inside a belly of a naga. Leo was supposed to be inside of hers. But that’s not where she felt him. There was no denying where she now knew him to be, but the seeming impossibility of it made it difficult for her to quickly grasp the irrevocable reality of the matter. What’s more, he was squirming wonderfully, and had apparently been bringing her great pleasure in spite of her usual tendency to be more or less ‘dead to the world’ while sleeping.

She wanted to make sense of all of these unusual circumstances. How had he moved? How had she moved? Her fingers were inside of herself. When had she done that? Why did her insides feel so unusual? But she felt so amazing! She couldn’t bring herself to search for the answers to these many questions. She gave into sensual abandonment and plunged her fingers deeper, focusing on the pressure she felt from her wriggling lover in her backside. She squeezed him with her muscles and could actually feel his body with her fingers through the thin wall of flesh that separated her playing from his.

Leo had become aware that Vela was responding very enthusiastically to his activities, and that made the situation many times more erotic. He was instantly aware of when her fingers ‘joined him’ in the delight, though they hadn’t actually gone right to him. He could feel them, though, massaging him through the slimy wall. The walls around him smushed him oppressively, but it was all perfect. She bit her lip hard, trying to stifle a scream, but it escaped anyway as she began to climax. While doing so, her body began to spasm, and she lost the ability to resist applying abdominal pressure to her lover from the inside, and he was pushed out.

The inside of her anal cavity hadn’t been too tight, but the exit was an entirely different matter. It was the tightest squeeze Leo had felt from her beautiful body yet. As he slid through it, the pressure became immense, and as it passed over him, he couldn’t help but finally finish in a burst of glorious passion. Vela reacted quickly, removing her fingers from herself and placing her hand below so as to catch Leo as he exited her body. She didn’t want to let him fall freely into the belly of the naga. She got a good grip on him, and collected the borrower, bringing him up to her exasperated face.

Leo hadn’t seen a single ray of light in many waking hours. So, the glowing pink circles of Vela’s wide-eyed gaze were a very welcomed sight to behold. She simply stared at him a moment, made speechless by the surprising and intense nature of her awakening. If Leo could see anything besides her eyes’ iridescence in the darkness, he would have noticed something else unheard of about her face; her cheeks were flushing with a deep blush that would have been quite distinct from usually bone-pale complexion.

“I have so many questions!” She exclaimed and peppered him with kisses. He basked in the attention, coming down from the passionate afterglow.

“That... makes two... of us,” he managed to get out between catching his breath and the shower of affection. “Do you... want to get out of here... first?” He asked. Vela stopped kissing him and he watched her eyes scan around them.

“I’m sure she knows we are awake. But she’ll be too polite to address us until we request her attention,” Vela said. “We should let her have her body back to herself soon. But there’s no real rush. Once we are out, they’ll want to host us for activities. Let’s talk a moment. That... was wild!” She finished.

“It was. Your body really took me for quite the ride last night!” Leo said.

“My body feels... strange!”

“It was acting strangely. At least, different from last time. I only have the two experiences to compare.”

“It is different. Something has changed...” Vela said, looking down at herself. “But it feels invigorating! What happened?” Leo explained how he’d initially been woken up by her body making strange noises, had gone back to sleep, and had finally awoken halfway through her intestinal tract. Vela listened with transfixed fascination.

“That’s unheard of!” She said. “Those systems have been completely dormant for centuries. What on earth could have caused them to reawaken?” Then, she considered it. He had reignited her in more than one way since their having met. Was he somehow responsible all on his own? She didn’t have the answer. Who might she ask?

“I thought maybe you knew it was a possibility when you suggested we... well, try it sometime,” Leo offered.

“I was kidding. Well, I was mostly kidding. I mean... I have to admit, the idea was intriguing. But I wouldn’t have actually expected you to want to. I thought you’d have to do it all on your own. For my body to... do that automatically? I didn’t think it was possible.” She thought about it. Her body had ‘come to life’ and pulled her Leo deep into her bowels. It was strangely satisfying to acknowledge. She loved that he had been all the way through her like that in a way that no one ever had, and she didn’t even think possible. “I wish I’d been awake for it all,” she said, placing her left wrist against her abdomen. “I’m sure you would have felt just... heavenly. Did you like it?” Leo blushed.

“I mean, I was a little surprised at first, but it was pretty pleasant all the way throughout. There’s really nothing off-putting about a single inch of you, outside or within. I... well, you know. I got really into the idea near the end. It felt so...” he trailed off.

“Naughty,” Vela finished for him. “Wonderfully and strangely so. I don’t know what it is about it. But it feels strangely forbidden, and yet, we’ve done it. You’ve gone in one end...” she made a show of gulping audibly so Leo would hear, “traveled through every inch of me, and made quite a pleasurably grand exit.” Leo felt an odd rush at hearing her describe it like that. Then, the gut they were in shifted a little, and Vela had to extend her left arm to steady herself as the giant naga seemed to make a small adjustment. Leo had almost forgotten that they were still inside another being’s belly. He had been so accustomed to the environment after having spent the day in a much smaller, similar one.

“We can... talk more about this another time. I think our ‘host’ is getting restless trying to be courteous to us for so long.” Vela nodded.

“Indeed. She’s been very still. We ought to relieve her of her duties.” She grinned and looked at Leo. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to waste the night trying to make our way out the long way?” She teased.

“Something tells me it won’t be as pleasant a journey as mine was. Though you should definitely try it sometime if you’re curious.” He said with a laugh. She laughed too. “Besides, I’m the only one involved in this little food chain who hasn’t eaten anything in about a day. I’m starved!”

“Well then we’d better get you fed. Not sure the naga will have anything for you, but you’ve still got some provisions left in that satchel of yours,” she said. “Nok-toon, my beautiful and generous friend! Can you hear me?” Vela shouted. The stomach shifted, tilting forward quickly, and came to a stop.

“What’s that, night walker?” The feminine voice of their host boomed deeply.

“We think it’s time you let us out. We don’t want to keep you all night!” Vela called. There was a pause.

“But... that would be unwise,” the naga answered. Vela made a confused face. Leo saw her eyes dart towards him and back up above suspiciously.

“In what way?”

“Well, it’s just that... there is still some sunlight visible. I was of the understanding that exposing you to its rays, even faint though they are, would be detrimental. I’m happy to oblige you, but it seems irresponsible,” Nok-toon concluded. Vela sat there in complete disbelief.

“Huh,” Leo said. “Guess we woke up early.”

“I... I don’t understand,” Vela said quietly.

“Is something wrong?” Leo was concerned by Vela’s tone. She was silent. Then, she called out to Nok-toon.

“Thank you, gracious host! Your counsel is most appreciated! You are quite correct! Please keep us appraised on when the sun sets, but do not worry! We are extremely comfortable. Your accommodations are unmatched!” She said. The belly around seemed to vibrate appreciatively. There was apparently no greater compliment to a naga. ‘What an interesting species,’ Leo thought. Then again. He supposed he was an interesting breed of borrower if he liked these sorts of accommodations.

“Vela... you seemed pretty shocked. Have you never woken up early?”

“Not since...” she trailed off. ‘Not since I came of age and became of the night,’ she thought. She had been loving the way her body felt since she had awoken. The strange and vibrant sensations of warmth and activity throughout everywhere Leo had been. Everything he touched. She felt a hundred years younger. But then, she had woken up before the sun had gone to bed? Was she in danger? What if she had not been inside the naga’s stomach and warned not to emerge? Would she have carelessly risen and exposed herself to the sun’s rays? As fascinating and truly lovely as this newfound bodily experience was, she needed answers. Answers Leo couldn’t provide. Answers she couldn’t search her deep memory for. Answers the nagas and Jackie wouldn’t know.

“Leo, I’m okay.” He sighed with relief.

“You were worrying me. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“I was calculating.”

“Calculating what?”

“Odds. The odds that one of my elders might still be where I had last seen her.” Leo didn’t know what to make of that.

“You need to see one of your... elders?”

“I... it seems necessary; prudent. I feel more wonderful than I can ever remember. But waking up before the sunset is almost unprecedented. That’s an interesting issue. It concerns me. I need to know if I’m in trouble. I need to ask someone with more data if there’s a precedence for this in my people.” Leo thought about this. If her body was doing something she didn’t understand at her age, that could be real trouble.

“I think I understand your concern. Anything about yourself that you cannot explain must be very bewildering.”

“It’s both wonderful and terrifying, yes. I’m excited by it, but I need to understand it. Ever since I met you, Leo, I’ve felt brilliantly strange. Maybe you’re the answer, but I don’t understand the mechanism, and I must.”

“That makes sense. How far off is this elder? Does she live in the region?”

“If she hasn’t moved, I could reach her in two-nights’ time.” Leo couldn’t help but notice she had not said, ‘we.’

“Can’t I go with you?” She kissed him.

“I think not. It’s difficult to explain. Would... it be okay if I asked you to stay here? I know that’s a lot.” Leo considered this. Stay with the naga for perhaps four or more days while Vela made a solo trek to get much needed answers from an elder who might not even be there?

“You wouldn’t ask me to if it weren’t important,” he said, feeling the slightest sting of sadness at the idea. “Just... come back to me soon?” Tears welled up in Vela’s eyes. She kissed Leo compassionately for a long time.

“Thank you for understanding. I won’t be long. And I know you’ll be safe. There are no evils unkind to borrowers who would dare trespass in a den that belongs to a naga tribe of this size, and the nagas are a predictable, reliable species. They’ll take care of you for a few days. And you’ll have Jackie,” Vela said.

“And I’ll take care of her,” Leo joked. “I hope she hasn’t died of fright today while we’ve been cooped up in here.” Vela giggled. He was trying to lighten the mood. He was very sad that his Vela was leaving him. He thought about the last few days. She would be away longer than he had known her. He should be able to tolerate that. So why did it feel like he would be losing something precious? It almost seemed ridiculous. “Vela, I know our time together has been short and filled with unbelievable highs and lows, but it’s been the happiest of my life. I’ll wait here for you so you can find out what ails you, but I’ll be counting the seconds,” he said, referencing her from when he had packed for the journey. “Just don’t delay. I can’t count that high.” She melted in a mixture of adoration and sadness at the idea of leaving him for even a day. She swept him up in kisses, and they spoke sweetly to each other until Nok-toon finally announced that it was safe to come out.