Don't Bet On It!
I lifted my cards from the table and peeked at their undersides. A King and a Queen . . . hm . . . and they were both suited Hearts. But there were three cards of Spades on the table, and one of them was an Ace. I thought for a second and then folded my hand.
Burt bet 50 chips, and Mike called that. After a few seconds, Drago called, too. I dealt another card to the table, and now there was a Jack of Clubs staring up at the furs betting over him. Burt considered the card, a hand raised in thought. He raised to 75, and Mike, who had only 70 chips left in front of him, gulped loudly. If he matched this and lost he would be out of the game. I glanced over at Drago and he hid a smile. We both knew that Mike would bet. Mike was a daring player and never turned down a challenge. As if on cue, he wordlessly pushed the rest of his chips out in front of him and went all-in. I didn't say anything, and now it was Drago's turn to place his bet. He smoothly raised the pot to 100 chips and invited Burt to challenge him. Burt accepted the raise and called it, and I dealt the last card. A 10 of Diamonds.
Burt's eyes popped and he bet 100 chips right away. He was never good at concealing what was in his hand, and we all knew it. Drago raised to 150 chips, and Burt, determined, raised again to 200 chips. Both players' own stocks were getting dangerously low at this point, and Drago hesitated. Whether he was deciding if his hand was good enough or if he wanted to toy with the micro alligator a little longer, I couldn't tell, but then he called the raise and the round was over. Burt flipped over his cards. A two-pair of 10's and Jacks. A respectable hand. Mike's ears flattened and he begrudgingly showed his hand, which contained a 9 and 7. The 9 matched one of the Flop cards, but that was it. The rabbit was out of the game. Out of curiosity, he stayed to see what Drago's hand was.
Drago raised his eyebrow and looked around the table contentedly before showing his own hand. Two Ace's. That meant he had a three of a kind, which crushed every other hand still in play. Burt opened his mouth and made a sound of disapproval, but there was no denying that he was beat. He grabbed the cards on the table and piled them roughly together before starting to shuffle them again.
"Good luck guys," Mike said as he removed himself from the table. "I'm going downstairs."
"Nice game!" I said. Burt chuckled and I hesitated. Everyone at the table knew that Mike was new and wasn't very good at poker, but I didn't want him to feel bad about it "That was a nasty pair of 9's you had there!"
"Haha, okay. I'm going to grab a bite to eat."
Drago raised an eyebrow at me and Mike shut the door behind him. We could hear the steps creak as he descended down the stairs with his soft bunny paws, pa-thump, pa-thump, pa-thump, and then the room was quiet again, save for Burt's shuffling. Drago shrugged and Burt dealt out the hand. We played a few more rounds and then Burt lost, too. He said he was hungry and that he didn't care about playing anymore, and Drago and I accepted that without question. We didn't point out that the only reason he hadn't lost long before Mike was because, in his reckless betting, he managed to score a few big hands. There was no reason to make a something of it, since we were all friends, and so we let the little alligator troop downstairs with his dignity intact. I looked at Drago.
Drago was a rather unique furry. He was a dragon, but then he wasn't really. He was a hybrid, part dragon and part incubus. What resulted from this combination was what looked like a wolf, like myself, but with huge wings that protruded from his back. He had large, blue eyes with vertical slits for pupils, matching my own fur, and a normal-sized snout. He had a furry tail that ended in a point, and coarse, black fur that covered his entire body. He looked kind of like I did when I was halfway through a transformation into a dragon, but altogether different at the same time. He had long, black hair, even darker than his fur, which sprouted from his head and covered half his face. He wore no shirt and the muscles of his abdomen rippled whenever he moved. Drago also had some unique abilities, like the ability to read minds and control time, but he had agreed not to use them tonight.
We were sitting at the kitchen table of my apartment. My roommate was away and I had decided to start up a game of poker with a few friends. The game was getting heated at this point, as Drago and I were evenly matched in skill, and neither of us was making any progress. I had a slight lead, but no more than that. I would win a game and then lose two, and then he would lose a couple and win the next. This is the way things went for a while, and although we were both getting tired, we were too stubborn to call it quits and let the other win.
"Why don't we make things a bit more interesting?" I suggested after winning a particularly predictable hand. "We should raise the stakes a bit, don't'cha think?"
"Yeah," Drago agreed, a bored tone in his voice, as he absentmindedly flicked his abnormally long tongue. "This is taking forever. How about the loser has to pay for dinner?" His belly growled in response, obviously approving of the suggestion.
"That sounds like a good idea," I said. "One problem, though. I don't have any money."
"That is a problem," Drago agreed. "I don't have much in the way of cash either. I guess we'll both go hungry then." He yawned loudly and stretched his body upwards, one hand behind the other as he reached for the ceiling.
I grunted. "Well . . ." I said slowly. "How about the loser IS dinner, then?" I raised an eyebrow as my opponent considered this suggestion. His belly growled again and seemed to seal the deal.
Drago grinned mischievously. "I like it. You're on, wolf."
What these new stakes on the line, the game suddenly became much more intense, and much more interesting. Neither of us wanted to make the slightest wrong move, but as Drago got more cautious with his bets, I got more daring. I lost a particularly bad hand for a high amount of chips and watched as Drago gloated. He rubbed his belly in anticipation, teasing me and trying to get me riled up, but I didn't let it unnerve me. This game was only getting started. I won the next three games and reclaimed my lead, and Drago seemed to shrink in confidence.
It was now my deal again. I dealt both of our hands and then looked down at my cards. There were two Queens there, which was a really good pair of starting cards, and I planned to play it. Drago bet 100 chips and I called him, confident but not reckless. I placed three cards on the table: a 2 of Diamonds, a 10 of Hearts, and an 8 of Diamonds. Now I felt more comfortable to raise the bet. Drago called me and I dealt the next card. A Jack of Diamonds. That was close, but not enough to beat a Queen. I raised even higher and Drago called me again. All seemed to be safe, and I mentally checked this game off as a win. I dealt the River and looked at Drago. He wore a mask of total indifference, but the next card was a 4 of Spades. I raised the bet the highest I had yet and waited for Drago to make his move, sure I had won. Drago raised the bet by 100 chips.
I stared, completely taken aback by Drago's raise, and thought long and hard before making my next move. What was he doing? He couldn't possibly have a straight or a flush. Any pair should be lower than my own, unless he got lucky and beat my two Queens with his two hidden cards. It was possible that he had a two-pair . . . and so it was foolish to raise any higher. But I couldn't just fold, when there was no clear advantage for Drago's side. What if he was psyching me out? After a long pause of consideration I decided to call Drago's raise, and then the round was over and I waited to see what Drago had. He grinned and showed me his two Kings.
A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead.
We continued to play, once again back in forth in our winnings, but I was losing my lead. I could see my own pile of chips growing smaller, and his growing larger, coming dangerously close to matching mine. I knew that I would have to do something daring, and soon, otherwise we'd both go hungry. A few games later I was dealt a 3 of Diamonds and a 3 of Clubs. I had a pair, but it was low and I considered folding. Something told me to play the hand, though, and I raised the ante. I waited for Drago to deal the Flop. A 3 of Spades. I stared at it with wonder as I realized that I had a good chance of winning the hand, after all. The only problem was, there was an Ace of Clubs on the table as well, along with an 8 of Diamonds, which didn't really matter. I had to play this carefully . . . I bet a small amount of chips and he called my bet.
The next card was an Ace of Diamonds. Now I was really nervous. I checked, and Drago raised 300 chips. He was going to force me to play this hand out, and I wasn't sure I wanted to. His bet wasn't terribly high, but it was high enough that I was terrified. If I continued to play, my lead would be decimated by a loss. I put my faith in my three 3's, because what was poker without a bit of risk-taking? As I placed my chips into the pot my stomach went a-flutter as I realized that if I lost this, I would be on the path to defeat, and on the path to spending the night in Drago's belly, with no food for myself. He dealt the last card and I sighed with relief. With any luck, I could use this card to get me high on my way to victory. I bet 500 chips and waited for Drago to make his decision.
I was in for a surprise. Drago went all-in.
"What's it gonna be, Mikhowl?" he grinned. "C'mon, I'm getting hungry. You should just go all-in so we can settle this like real men. How about it?" He obviously doubted that I would, but I stared at him with fire in my eyes and matched him. After a moment he slapped the table and began to laugh. "Now that's how you play the game! C'mon, let's see what you got! Lookie here!" He showed his hand, and there was the dreaded third Ace I had feared. "Let's go, show me yours!"
I flipped over my cards. One, two, three . . . four 3's. He stared. I had won the game with one of the lowest cards in the game, and Drago stood with his mouth open wide. I quickly got up and pinned him to the wall.
"Looks like someone got a little too confident," I noted slyly, and I slurped him across the face. I smacked my lips as he stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded. "I guess you shouldn't have gone all-in." I grinned and he began to struggle in my grasp.
"I - I had three Aces!" he stammered. "How did you - ugh!" He twisted his face and spluttered as I continued to lick him. My belly growled loudly, as if I needed a reminder of what the stakes had been for this game. "Um . . . how about we play a Round 2?" Drago suggested weakly. I opened my mouth wide, showing him just what I thought about the suggestion, and Drago meeped in response. I shoved his head inside and my eyes rolled back with bliss. A copious amount of saliva dripped out of my maw and ran down his neck. It would make a mess soon but I didn't care.
I grabbed the dragon-hybrid and lifted him up. He was about the same size as me, but I was pretty strong, so it didn't take too much effort to carry/drag him over to a more open area of the house, which happened to be my living room. I set to work consuming my prize, and he struggled weakly as I slurped over his furry body. He knew that there was no getting out of the deal now.
The wings were probably the hardest part of Drago to get down, since they were so large and bony, but I knew just how to handle them. I'd eaten a lot of people around town - it was sort of the thing I was getting known for, and it just so happened that some of them had wings. Go figure. I reached back to the tips of the bony structures, which were pointed and bent, and grabbed hold of them. I pushed forward and lined them up with Drago's shoulders, and then I got a little overconfident and pushed them forward a little bit more. A spasmed shudder ran through my meal's body and he lashed at me with his tail. Oops. Maybe I had pushed a little too hard.
I folded Drago's wings along his back and he relaxed. I lapped at his belly a few times with reassurance and continued to gulp him down. A few swallows and I felt his head move from my throat into my belly. The job was almost finished and all that were left outside my maw were the tip of his tail, some leg, and of course his feetpaws. I drew the legs down my throat and grinned at the paws as they wiggled around. I gave them a long, wet slurp and that made them wiggle even harder, although I decided not to torture my playmate for too long. I gave them one more going over with my tongue and swallowed them down, along with the last of Drago's tail. I felt them travel down my throat and into my belly, where they curled up with the rest of my dinner, and I let out a breath of contentment.
"Wow, Drago! You were even better than you looked!" I commented. Drago squirmed around in response, and then I heard a muffled voice coming from my belly. I perked up my ears. "What did you say?" I asked. "I didn't catch that."
"I said that you got lucky," Draco's voice said darkly, sounding annoyed. "Poker's more about luck than anything else. You probably won't ever win again, so enjoy your meal."
I laughed and patted my belly. "Whatever you say, buddy. You'd be more convincing if you weren't the one on the inside!" I chuckled again, but this did remind me of one thing. I had invited the guy over to play poker with me, and I hadn't even fed him. He would've gotten dinner if he had won the game, but now all he had was his own empty stomach and my wet, pulsing belly walls to remind him of what he didn't have. I felt bad, and so I prepared a little something to hold him over.
I may have had a hobby of eating my friends in my free time, but that didn't mean I was heartless. Or a bad host.
I prepared a fried egg and some potato chips, basically all I had in the house, and munched them down. A few seconds later there was a fit of squirming in my belly and a noise of resentment as Drago was covered in food. "Eat up," I called. "That's all I have, but it's better than nothing."
"Gee, thanks," Drago said sarcastically. There was a pause and I shrugged and trooped over to the couch. I think he submitted after a while, because I felt a bit of moving around eventually.
I relaxed, a single paw resting on my stomach. I could still feel Drago moving around inside. "I love games. I wish other furs were able to have this much fun." I yawned and lay back on the couch cushions, lost in thought. I rubbed my belly some more. "Maybe I'll make a contest or something. Then it'll be like a party." My eyes started to drift shut. "The one who eats the most furs would be the winner . . . He'll be so full, and so stuffed . . . It'll be awesome. I could get some furs together . . . and it'd be so much fun . . ." I drifted off to sleep with thoughts like these, plans and ideas chasing each other around like they had appetites of their own. I dreamt of food and big bellies, and all the while I kept my own jiggling one full and close at hand. As if it could go anywhere.